Garden City High School Students Shine in Latin Examinations
Throughout the 2025-2026 school year, Garden City High School Latin students excelled in five Latin examinations: the National Latin Exam (42 award winners), National Roman Civilization Exam (four award winners), National Classical Etymology Exam (seven award winners), National Latin Vocabulary Exam (one award winner) and the Medusa Exam (six award winners).
Sixty-two Latin students at Garden City High School participated in the scholastic National Latin Examination, a rigorous and highly competitive assessment co-sponsored by the American Classical League and the National Junior Classical League. The exam, offered at multiple levels, is taken annually by more than 100,000 students across all 50 states, the District of Columbia and over 20 countries.
To earn recognition on the exam, students must score above the national average at their respective level. This year, 42 GCHS students achieved that distinction and earned awards for their performance. Among them, 12 students were recognized on the Beginning Latin Exam, 12 on the Intermediate Latin Exam, 13 on the Intermediate Reading Comprehension Exam and five on the Advanced Latin Prose Exam.
Congratulations to the following students on their performances:
National Latin Exam
Gold – Summa Cum Laude
Emily McDonald (Latin 1)
Sam Milano (Latin 1)
Evangeline Ring (Latin 1)
Mason Chan (Latin 2)
Abigail Hogan (Latin 2)
Minyi Huang (Latin 2)
Emmran Ishtiaque (Latin 2)
Teresa Gregory (Latin 3)
Julia La Monica (Latin 3)
Annemarie McCarthy (Latin 3)
Kaitlyn McDonald (Latin 3)
May Paisley (Latin 3)
Madeleine Walsh (Latin 3)
Analisa Winter (Latin 3)
Gabriella Tromba (Latin 4)
Silver – Maxima Cum Laude
Ava Cammarata (Latin 1)
Samantha Schabhuttl (Latin 1)
Evelyn Yasso (Latin 1)
Bradford Gillette (Latin 2)
Mariella McQuade (Latin 2)
Seamus Ryan (Latin 2)
Carter Herrera (Latin 3)
Joseph LoPiccolo (Latin 3)
Fionn Ryan (Latin 3)
Kayla Cherney (Latin 4)
Sinae Cho (Latin 4)
Brendan Wilde (Latin 4)
Certificate – Magna Cum Laude
Hailey Benson (Latin 1)
Elizabeth DiBlasi (Latin 1)
Maren McCarthy (Latin 1)
Alena Robinson (Latin 1)
Jane Foley (Latin 2)
Dylan Guan (Latin 2)
Kaitlyn Milo (Latin 2)
Amanat Jain (Latin 3)
Anna Olcott (Latin 3)
Ava Pineda (Latin 3)
Certificate – Cum Laude
Ava Corrao (Latin 1)
Ella Fabilli (Latin 1)
Beatrice Ehrig (Latin 2)
Michael Haedrich (Latin 2)
Laura Kahn (Latin 4)
In addition to the National Latin Exam, many GCHS Latin students and club members took part in a range of extracurricular exams focused on classical studies. These four exams, developed by the National Junior Classical League, of which the GCHS Latin Club is a registered chapter, were jointly funded by the high school Latin Club and Latin Honor Society to support student participation and achievement in classics.
This fall, students competed in the National Classical Etymology Exam (NCEE), which explores the Latin and Greek roots of English words; the National Roman Civilization Exam (NRCE), focused on Roman history and culture; the National Latin Vocabulary Exam (NLVE); and the Medusa Mythology Exam, sponsored by Excellence Through Classics. The NRCE, NLVE, NCEE and Medusa exams are optional, only open to Latin Club members. As a result, earning recognition on these assessments is especially notable, reflecting a high level of commitment and achievement within a more specialized group of participants.
Several students earned recognition for their strong performances, as noted below.
National Classical Etymology Exam
Silver
Sinae Cho (Advanced)
Abigail Hogan (Advanced)
Bronze
Mason Chan (Intermediate)
Emmran Ishtiaque (Intermediate)
Kaitlyn Milo (Intermediate)
Gabriella Tromba (Advanced)
Brendan Wilde (Advanced)
National Roman Civilization Exam
Gold
Olivia Allsbrook (Advanced)
Silver
Dylan Guan (Intermediate)
Bronze
Emmran Ishtiaque (Intermediate)
Brendan Wilde (Advanced)
National Latin Vocabulary Exam
Silver
Abigail Hogan (Latin 2)
Medusa Mythology Exam
Gold – Summa Certificate
Amanat Jain
Silver – Maxima Certificate
Olivia Allsbrook
Abigail Hogan
Ribbon – Magna Certificate
Mason Chan
Brendan Kennedy
Cum Laude Certificate
Sinae Cho
Several Garden City High School students earned distinguished recognitions for their outstanding performances on multiple Latin exams. Senior Gabriella Tromba received a gold medal on the Advanced Prose exam, making her eligible to apply for a National Latin Exam scholarship to support the study of Latin or Greek at the collegiate level.
Additionally, sophomores Abigail Hogan and Emmran Ishtiaque, along with juniors Teresa Gregory and Kaitlyn McDonald, achieved perfect scores and will be honored with special certificates. Notably, this marks Kaitlyn McDonald’s third consecutive gold medal and her second perfect paper.
“These exams are very challenging, and I’m incredibly proud of how our students performed to earn these honors,” said Latin teacher and club adviser Magistra Kathleen Durkin. “Their dedication and hard work truly set them apart and made these achievements possible.”
Magistra Durkin would also like to thank the GCHS Latin Club and Latin Honor Society’s fundraising efforts, which helped pay for the NRCE, NLVE, NCEE and Medusa examinations.
Congratulations to all participants in each of these exams.