University High School

University High School ’s Destination Imagination Team will represent California at the Global Finals.

The DI Team of John Dawson, Chip Gross, Lizzie Jordan and Taylor Stephenson defeated the 12 other best California high school teams Saturday, April 17, and will compete in the Global Finals against teams from the US and several foreign countries in late May. This international event is hosted by the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Anyone wishing to help with financial support toward the team's travel costs is asked to contact Brad Huff, UHS principal, at 8-8263.

UHS also announced that nearly three-fourths of the students taking Latin I and Latin II at University High School scored at or above the national average on the recent National Latin Exam sponsored by the Junior Classical League. Fifty seven percent scored high enough to earn a medal.

"We are so proud of this accomplishment,” stated Elizabeth Downer, who teaches Latin II.  “It was our very first time taking this prestigious exam. These students have set the bar very high for future UHS students to maintain."

Chai Phannaphob, Latin I teacher, added, “The students are awesome. We had no idea they would do so well.”

Downer and Phannaphob are recent graduates of Fresno State ’s Classical Studies Program featuring professors Victor Hanson, Bruce Thornton and Honora Chapman.

University High School requires all students to complete two years of Latin and two semesters of a college foreign language, or its equivalent.

The three Summa Cum Laude Gold Medallists in Latin I are: Qainat Khan, Jonathan Presley, and Elizabeth Yerke.

The eleven Summa Cum Laude Gold Medallists in Latin II are: Isaac Birnbaum, Ashley Cooper, Curtis Day, Brady Dibble, Sara Hobe, Nicole Johnson, Austin Krohn, Jiahui Lin, Elliot Nelson, Richard Purcell and Dustin Rowe.

To be designated a Summa Cum Laude Gold Medallist a student can miss no more than three of the forty questions.

There were forty-nine additional medalists out of the 110 taking Latin I and thirty-nine additional medalists out of the 86 taking Latin II.

University High School is a charter school located on the Fresno State campus featuring an accelerated, college preparatory program with music classes and participation in a performing group required all four years.