Amy Rosevear (Cherry Creek High School)
Building an accessible Latin program begins with creating a space where all students belong, where they know that they are seen and valued just as they are, and where they feel like they are part of something exciting. Community and connection are values of many Classics educators; in fact, many of us have likely chosen this career path because of the sense of community we experienced in our high school Latin class, or in Latin Club, or by attending meals at our professors’ homes during our undergrad or graduate years. We know that community and authentic connection can form within a Latin program. But how do we ensure that it does? And how do we ensure that all students, without stated or implied prerequisites, have equal access to our Classics communities?
This paper will discuss the values of community and connection within the context of the manifold values (some might say pressures) that shape high school Latin programs, e.g. pacing curriculum to prepare students for AP or IB Latin courses and exams in their fourth or fifth year, recruiting and retaining enough students to maintain a program, promoting equity among a diverse group of students, celebrating achievement on contests like the National Latin Exam, selecting materials and methodologies that promote student engagement and authentic learning, and managing extracurricular opportunities like Latin Club, JCL conventions, and trips abroad. I will argue that as educators, we must prioritize community and connection, if we want our programs to stay relevant, accessible, and ever more inclusive. We must communicate these values with intention and confidence to all stakeholders--students, parents, counselors, and administrators--and commit to them through the choices we make with our class time, curricular goals, and teaching practices.
In so doing, we must also be willing to reconsider the traditional markers of success and achievement in a high school Latin program, including our exams, contests, and notions of what Latin students “should” learn at every level. A truly accessible Latin program means welcoming every student who wants to be there, without any assumption of prior knowledge or future academic pathways. If we examine our curricula and traditional markers of success through that lens, we may realize that some of our values are in conflict with one another. I will invite us to ask these questions and engage in the subsequent conversations, with humility and openness to change, in order to teach the students in front of us.
This paper will provide practical ideas and strategies for prioritizing community and connection in a Latin program, in addition to making the case for why these values deserve to be prioritized. I will share strategies for helping students connect to one another, to the content, and to their place within the larger Latin program, applicable to various student age groups and teacher methodologies.