Three Bernard Middle School STRETCH gifted students excelled on the National Mythology Exam offered by the American Classical League, including eighth grader Taylor Gerau, who received a gold medal and the Athena Gold Award of Excellence for achieving a perfect score on this year’s test.

Eighth grader Samantha Roberts and seventh grader Mitchell Elliot each scored a 94 percent on the test and earned bronze medals for their accomplishments.

The National Mythology Exam consists of two sections: Greek and Roman mythology and questions about a piece of Latin classical literature. The Bernard students previously studied Greek mythology for the STRETCH program’s Extempore competition held in March, where teams of students created skits based on a specific challenge surrounding this year’s theme of Greek mythology. The students also read an adapted version of the classical Latin epic poem “The Aeneid.”

“I decided to enter my students in the National Mythology Exam competition since we were studying Greek and Roman mythology throughout preparation activities for the Extempore competition. The students seemed to have an interest in mythology, too,” stated Bernard Middle STRETCH teacher Susan Jesse. “Some other independent projects, such as posters or PowerPoint presentations on various myths, were a part of the preparation for both Extempore and the National Mythology Exam.”

The exam consisted of 40 questions on mythology and 10 questions on the selected piece of literature, “The Aeneid.” The students took the exam during one class period, and their answer sheets were sent to The American Classical League to be scored.

When Jesse received the students’ scores, she learned Gerau achieved a perfect score on both sections of the test, while Roberts and Elliot both earned a 94 percent – the highest score possible in the bronze medal category.

“This was the first time that I had students participate in this competition and wasn’t sure what to expect,” Jesse stated. “I was happy that these students were able to show their knowledge in this particular area of history and literature.”

The American Classical League is an organization founded for the purpose of fostering the study of classical languages in the U.S. and Canada.