Competing against middle-school and high-school students representing 16 Long Island and NYC school districts, The Stony Brook School received first place in the Advanced Level; fifth place in Latin II and in Latin III; and sixth place in Latin I during the 10th Annual Suffolk Classical Society's Latin CERTAMEN (contest), a "Quiz Bowl" for Latin students held at SUNY Stony Brook.

Students Paul Bisagni (Patchogue), Christian Wentling (New York), Christopher Sarrica (Lake Grove) and Samantha Lee (Islip) competed in the Advanced Level and won 1st place. Their correct answers in Roman history, Latin grammar, mythology and etymology pitted them against rivals from Riverhead and Port Washington in the final round.

Stony Brook School students from Latin I, II and III also finished in the top 6 of 16 schools from all over Long Island and NYC. Brian Harrington (Shoreham), Sarah Higgins (East Setauket), Joseph Mak (Stony Brook), and Maggie Pavao (Stony Brook), competed at the Latin III level, placing 5th out of 12 teams. Placing the same was the Latin II team, which consisted of students Samantha Gage (MA), Kara Lee (Islip), Matt Rooney (Nissequogue), and Thomas Valet (Holbrook). Finishing 6th out of 15 teams in the contest were students Emily Andersen (PA), Ben Cotten (Farmingville), Abigail Minor (PA), and Kim Shannon (Setauket) from the Latin I class.

The Stony Brook University Department of Humanities, the Center for Excellence and Innovation and Education, and the Suffolk Classical Society sponsored this language contest in efforts to encourage schools to preserve the Latin language by beginning or maintaining Latin programs and to keep the Latin language alive.

Three teams comprised of four students each, were divided into Latin I, II, III, IV and AP level categories and competed for two rounds. High scorers advanced to a third round to determine the winner at each level. Students answered questions on Latin grammar, word derivation, mythology, and Roman life, history, and culture.

Christian Wentling, Christopher Sarrica, Martha Pavao, Samantha Lee, and Paul Bisagni.

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