MEET THE BOARD
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Sonika Jalem
President
She/Her
Sonika is the ILJCL President! She is in charge of running the board, organizing and distributing responsibilities, and supporting the other board responsibilities. She has been taking Latin for 2 years (currently in latin III), and formerly took Spanish for 4 years. In her free time, she enjoys stargazing, sleeping, or browsing wikipedia.
Likes: The sun, Fall, dresses, Calculus, art, and the color orange
Favorite Latin Quote: "Amor vincit omnia"

Richa Sharma
1st Vice President
Class of 2024
School: Whitney Young
She/Her
Big Nicki Fan. Richa is an avid Latin lover. Last year, she took AP Latin and finally understood Brutus and his actions ( she was brutalized by De Bello Galllico, it destroyed her.) She has been doing Latin since kindergarten, but that doesn't matter as much as her addiction to social media!! She can't wait to work on everything social from Tiktok to Instagram, so look out for some amazing content and tell your fellow classics lovers to follow the instagram (@iljcl) !!
Likes: Sleep, Yerba Mates, Myth, and the color orange
Favorite Latin Quote: "Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!"

Bella Gainey
2nd Vice President
Class of 2025
School: Northside College Prep
Any Pronouns
Hi all, I’m Bella! I’m this year's 2nd VP and I’m super excited to serve you all as a state board member. I’m a junior and a third-year Latin student at Northside College Prep in Chicago. As 2nd VP, I’m in charge of all things spirit and service projects. When I'm not doing board-ing things, you'll probably find me doing some other extracurricular, whether it be attending an after-school club, taking an extra class, dancing, or participating in a school sport. I try to keep myself busy so that I don't have time to feel the emotional pain that I inflict on myself. Follow me on Instagram! (@bella_the_space_wizard)
Likes: Exploring Chicago with friends, thrifting, photography, learning and reading about topics that interest me, trying new foods, cats, and the color green
Favorite Latin Quote: “Vivamus, moriendum est"

Chloe Nam
Communications Coordinator
Class of 2026
School: Northside College Prep
Any Pronouns
Hello! I'm Chloe, this year's Communications Coordinator, and I'll be managing the website and taking notes during board meetings. I'm a sophomore taking AP Latin at Northside College Prep. When I'm not doing Latin-related things, I'm probably either practicing the flute, working on programming, writing terrible poetry, or studying.
Likes: Listening to music, spending time with my friends, reading through Wikipedia articles, & playing with my dog
Favorite Latin Quote: “Aio, quantitas magna frumentorum est"

Aaron Wasilew
Parliamentarian
Class of 2025
School: Northside College Prep
He/Him
Good morning, my name is Aaron Peter Wasilew! I'm terribly excited to serve on this year's board and hope to make the most of my position cough cough abuse my power cough cough. I'm a junior and an AP Latin student at Northside College Prep, but I have the skills of a Latin VII student. As Parliamentarian, it is within my duties to uphold a fair and democratic process for elections to the ILJCL board. "As long as I count the votes, what are you going to do about it?" Call me Boss Wasilew (my brain is fried from APUSH). When I'm not running local government scandals, I pass my time playing guitar (call me Van Wasilew), reading (call me J.R.R Wasilew), and watching Star Wars films (Call me Obi-Wasilew).
Likes: Playing the guitar, reading, and Star Wars
Favorite Latin Quote: "Non est ad astra mollis e terris via"

Miller Jackson
Historian
Class of 2024
School: Whitney Young
He/Him
Hello! I'm Miller, a third-year Latin student at Whitney Young. I'm the ILJCL Historian, and I'll be in charge of writing the Nuntius and taking pictures of JCL events. Other than Latin, I also enjoy bird watching, making Star Trek references, and enlarging my collection of grandpa sweaters.
Likes: Old man sweaters, Physics, stargazing, and bird watching
Favorite Latin Quote: "Sub Rosa" (Star Trek Reference)