The 19th annual Classics Bee is being held Thursday night, March 1st at the Monmouth-Roseville High School gym. Open to Monmouth-Roseville and Immaculate Conception School 5th through 8th graders, the Classics Bee was first started by long-time Monmouth Classics Professor Tom Sienkewicz. The idea, according to Monmouth-Roseville Latin teacher Brian Tibbets, was to increase enrollment and to bring classics to the forefront. “It was just kind of handed over to me, and I just made it part of the Latin core curriculum,” Tibbets told WGIL. “During the 3rd quarter they (the students) get to write questions, plan all of the logistics for it, the write a qualifying test for everyone to take. Then the highest scores out of that test qualify for the Bee. It’s their show on Thursday night.” Tibbets says 65 students have qualified for the Bee, but one doesn’t need to be knowledgeable in Latin or ancient Greek to participate. The single elimination contest will ask multiple choice questions that focuses on word roots, derivations and geography. Once the competition is down to three students – a “Final Jeopardy”-like round will have the top three answering ten questions apiece to determine 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. The Classics Bee is open to contestants’ family – who can even take the qualifying test themselves to see if they would make the cut.
