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By Steven R. Perkins
Latin &Theory of Knowledge Teacher
For several years we have done a project called Reading The War on Poverty (click here for details) in which our students read the entirety of either the Iliad, the Odyssey, or the Aeneid at Kids Ink Bookstore to raise money to fight poverty in Indianapolis. We take seriously the words of 1st century B.C. Roman statesman Cicero, who said, Ceteros pudeat, si qui se ita litteris abdiderunt ut nihil possint ex eis neque ad communem adferre fructum, neque in aspectum lucemque proferre. (Cicero, Pro Archia12) ”Let others be ashamed if they have so hidden themselves in
literature that they can offer nothing from their reading for the common benefit nor can bring forth anything into the light to be seen.”
One of our students has taken that a step further. Jamie Hill, fourth-year Latin student and Latin Club officer, came up with a great idea. This fall our students collected money to make teddy bears at Build-a-Bear. They raised enough money to make forty-three bears one Saturday in November. Students then wrote individualized fables for each bear, since the genre of fables dates back to Greco-Roman antiquity and the works of authors like Aesop, Herodotus, and Phaedrus. They are delivering the bears and fables to Riley Hospital for Children this week. Please check out the pictures on the Latin Club website, http://nclatin.org/latin_club.html. Nearly all of our Latin students were involved in one or more aspects of this project, but kudos go to Jamie for the idea and for shepherding the project every step of the way.
The first-year Latin classes also recently embarked on a fun activity. Although the Roman army is studied in detail during second-year Latin, this year the first-year students got a treat! They were introduced to the maneuvers of the Roman army, and recently got a chance to battle a bit with authentic reproduction foam swords and authentic reproduction metal helmets, all courtesy of a Lilly grant. Please follow this link to view photos of the event: http://nclatin.org/roman_battle.html.
