Student Clubs
Ad Fontes seeks to offer clubs that engage student interest, enhance student fellowship and further the intellectual and spiritual development of our students. This school year, AFA is offering Latin Club and Mock Trial. In past years, we have offered music, drama and student mentoring. We will continue to expand programs as our Upper school grows.
Latin Club
Imagine almost half of the upper school, sixth through twelfth grade, staying after school on Fridays to participate in extra academic work. The first thing that may come to mind is detention. Well, at Ad Fontes, students stay late on Fridays for Latin Club. Not only do they stay late, they do it willingly!
This vibrant club uses this after-school time to teach, discuss, inspire and celebrate with students all aspects of the Greek and Roman cultures. Students learn about the myths, religions, grammar, cultures and histories of these ancient civilizations through a dynamic game. They play a jeopardy style game, called certamen, which means contest or struggle in Latin. Then, many in the group go to a favorite Italian eatery for dinner and great fun.
Our students also compete throughout Virginia and Maryland in various state and national competitions during the school year. Students have also attended the Virginia Junior Classical Convention in the Fall. To deepen their knowledge of the Latin language and see that Latin truly is alive, advanced students travel to Rome, Italy as a culmination of their hard work and studies throughout the years.
All of this enthusiasm for language produces a group of dedicated, committed students who not only love Latin, but have developed a love for learning other languages that continues through their college years. AFA graduates have gone on to study Spanish, Russian, French, Arabic and Italian.
Mock Trial Club
Ad Fontes Academy is pleased to announce the inception of a Mock Trial program for our 9th-12th grade students.
The high school mock trial program is designed to encourage students to explore constitutional concepts, courtroom protocol and basic litigation skills. All the schools in a state are presented with the same mock case, usually modeled from a real-life case. The school must be prepared to prosecute and defend the case against teams from other high schools in a real courtroom before real judges and attorneys.
The students learn how to distill facts from opinion, strategize a plan for victory and then write both direct and cross examinations. They learn a scaled down version of the Federal Rules of Evidence and must use them to make objections and defend against objections, based on the law. They are also required to present their case, including five-minute opening and closing statements. Witnesses on the team are required to be so familiar with their witness's fact statement that they could withstand grueling cross examination by the other team without tripping over the facts. They are also provided the added bonus of dramatically bringing their character to life.
This legal sport brings together many distinctive aspects of classical and Christian school program including the ability for students to decipher source documents, and the study of logic and rhetoric.
The Ad Fontes Mock Trial team will participate in the state competition on March 28 and 29 in Williamsburg.
