Teacher Comments

Below are a few comments from teachers who have recently taught Charleston Latin. Their references to standards are to standards of the South Carolina State Department of Education.

Middle School Teacher: "When I started this ... [training] last summer, I had no idea how much I would learn nor the extent to which I would be able to share this knowledge with my students. It has been a thrill just watching them learn and connect Latin with our everyday words ... Results of evaluation of this unit [Unit 1] indicate that not only did the students increase their vocabulary comprehension by 21% on a criterion based test, but they also met the following South Carolina English/Language Arts curriculum standards:
1. READING/LITERATURE A, C, G, J and N;
2. LISTENING B;
3. SPEAKING A, B, D;
4. WRITING A, B
... Not only do students increase their vocabulary, enhance their ability to meet curriculum standards, and gain an insight into the importance of Latin in the evolution of our language, but they also enjoy [her italics] learning Latin!"


Spanish/English High School Teacher: "The enthusiasm for the Latin program has been tremendous. I can always count on complaints if one of our Tuesday/Thursday lessons has to be missed because of something else that is going on at school ... Most of my students have either very good or very bad grades. I have very few mid level students when it comes to grades. Therefore, I was interested to see that when I gave the before and after vocabulary test, my higher level students maintained their scores as expected; however, about two thirds of my lower level students improved their scores significantly. I really believe that the improvement was because of their participation in the Latin lessons ... I started a new Spanish I class at the beginning of the second semester ... As a result of their Latin experience, my current Spanish I students who have had Latin seem quicker to pick up Spanish grammar concepts than those new Spanish students who have not been exposed to the Latin ... I plan to continue using the program during the 2001 2002 school year. I truly believe that this program is of great benefit to my students. I want to be able to give this benefit next year to the students who did not have the opportunity to participate in the Latin program this year."

She also listed the following standards as being met through the Latin program:

  • Ninth Grade English Section II C and section III G;
  • Tenth grade English, section II D and section III G;
  • Eleventh Grade English section II B and D and Section III F;
  • Twelfth Grade English Section II B and D and Section III F.

5th Grade Teacher: "During this first year of implementation, I have grown as a teacher. At the beginning, my goal was to implement the program as designed. But I found many opportunities to use Latin in other subject areas, particularly science and math ... As a result of the study of Latin, my students have become more interested in their own language and became curious about the etymology of words in general ... The most powerful part of the program was when students began making connections between new knowledge and knowledge previously acquired from Latin ... I will definitely use the program more extensively next year, expecting to cover more units as I now have more experience and confidence ... I feel that my teaching has been revitalized by the use of this program."

8th Grade English Teacher writes in Prima (Fall 2002) (a newsletter for Excellence through Classics) page 4:   "No one has said anything to my children about a dead language or that it might be dorky to be interested in Latin, both of which I heard when I had it in high school. They know they are learning something relevant and they are all interested. Using Charleston Latin has energized my teaching more than any new program to which I have been exposed in the past 13 years. I couldn't recommend it more enthusiastically."

Middle School Teacher: "Let me tell you about Latin at ... middle school. I taught five classes of Latin last year (6th, 7th, 8th related arts and my ACE classes). I loved it. ... Students at SFM love [her bold] Latin. We have such fun. They look at knowing some Latin as being in a club with secret words. Every time I walk down the hall I hear, "Salve, Magistra." It's so neat.
Here I am near the end of my career and I have this wonderful experience with Latin. A language I have sung in for years but never studied and I absolutely love the language."

N.B. This teacher who knew no Latin was trained to teach Charleston Latin by another teacher who had no experience with Latin prior to her own training.