Academic Activities

The Certamen Team is the gathering of Latin students who are interested in competition level Latin in a quiz bowl format. Students gather each fall to learn the various elements of Latin competition present in the Certamen competition and to be instructed in the strategies and content. The club concentrates it focus mostly during September through January, which coincide with the State Convention preparation months. After that it only convenes during the summer to practice for the national competition in late July. This team attracts students who are highly motivated to compete in a "jeopardy- type" game against other classics students throughout the nation.

The Computer Programming Team competes in several programming contests during the year. A programming team is generally made up of 2 to 4 students who are selected based on their abilities in programming. Programming languages are determined by the host institution. Languages traditionally include Python, Java, C++, and Scratch. Students interested in becoming involved in the computer programming team should contact the one of the Computer Science teachers to get more information.

Expectations/Commitment

In this activity, students debate a national topic with other students from both Wisconsin and around the country. Debate is a highly rewarding activity and students develop researching, organizing, and speaking skills. Debate is also a great way to meet people from all over the state and continental United States. Homestead has traditionally been one of the best teams in the state. The Debate Club meets one night a week in addition to the debate meets themselves and the time spent on research. Students may join by attending the fall organizational meeting and indicating an interest.

Expectations/Commitment

Expectations/Commitment

Forensics is an individual and team activity in which students prepare and deliver various kinds of speeches, dramatic readings, or plays at festivals and competitive tournaments. Among the sixteen categories are the following: play acting, demonstration speech, humorous and serious solo acting, interpretive reading of poetry and prose, group discussion, and others. Beginning in January and continuing through April, students compete in festivals and tournaments with Milwaukee schools, North Shore Conference schools, and other southeastern Wisconsin schools. Students who qualify through sub-district and district contests compete in Madison at the state tournament in April. Students sign up for forensics in late October. Members of the Forensics Team attend weekly coaching sessions during the season. Forensics is open to all students.

Expectations/Commitment

The math team competes in several meets throughout the year. Some of the meets provide an opportunity for students to compete at different levels (JV and Varsity) while others are geared more towards upperclassmen. There is one freshman meet held each year. A math team is generally made up of eight students who are selected based on their abilities in math. In competition, the individual events traditionally include problems in algebra, geometry, advanced math, and problem solving. Students interested in becoming involved in the math team should contact the club advisors to get more information.

Expectations/Commitment

Model United Nations is an activity for students interested in international affairs. Student teams are assigned a country to study to prepare to participate in a two-day Model U.N. simulation conference in March. The students serve as delegates to the Model U.N. and prepare for the simulation by researching their country's position on various issues so that they can debate and discuss the issues at the conference.

Expectations/Commitment

The Robotics Team is an opportunity for students to design and build a robot to enter in the First Tech Challenge (FTC) Wisconsin competition. Each year FTC issues a challenge problem that participating teams need to address when designing and building their robot. Each team, of up to 10 students, offers the opportunity for students to bring their talents to the effort. We need designers, builders, drivers and computer programmers to compete in the individual challenge.

Expectations/Commitment

Soliloquy is the Homestead High School literary magazine. We seek to develop young writers and showcase their talent.

The mission of Soliloquy Literary Magazine is to create a student-driven, sophisticated in-house publication,to offer aspiring writers grades 9-12 an opportunity to grow in their craft with the support of a robust writing community, and to promote the arts as an essential component of a vibrant academic culture.

The magazine editorial staff and community of student writers meets every Monday from 2:45 to 4 p.m. starting the second week of October and ending the second week of May. In addition to writing together, members review content to approve text for publication in the print magazine, upload content onto the online magazine, consult with the Highlander Publications staff, and communicate with art teachers. Closer to the time of publication of the print magazine, members also consult on final content related publication related details.

The Monday meetings alternate in purpose:

1. One week, students focus on writing and workshopping content, participating in the creation of works for the magazine.
2. The next week, students focus on magazine related work.

Expectations/Commitment