Latin School of Chicago

O ne of seventh grader Matthew Shrake's favorite classroom activities – in any of his academic classes this year – is playing Kahoot in Latin 7. e classroom SmartBoard displays vocabulary questions with four answer options, each with a corresponding shape. Students in the classroom who are logged in to the game on their iPads select the shape that represents the correct answer – or so they hope. ey compete against each other and, adding an element of entertainment, earn more points if they answer quickly. "Studying Latin at our school is an honor, but it is also fun," said Matthew, who, as a fourth grader chose Latin as the language he would study in middle school. e language may be dead, but the study of Latin at the Latin School of Chicago is vibrant, relevant and accessible to all students. Middle school students play interactive games using iPads and SmartBoards. Upper school students can take the recently resurrected interdisciplinary Classical Civilization course or engage in a year-long simulation of the political system under Emperor Marcus Aurelius through an online platform that was developed specifically for the class by Latin alumnus Daniel Streicher '06. Students can take class trips to the Art Institute of Chicago to view ancient Greek and Roman life through art, explore Greek and Roman architectural elements of the city during upper school Project Week, take a Summer at Latin "Latin in the City" class or join the Classics Club. Upper school students also have the opportunity to travel to Rome to enrich their studies. Latin teacher Sarah Landis, who with colleague Elissabeth Legendre took 16 upper schoolers on the Rome trip last summer, said, "It's amazing to visit the Altar of Peace, read about it while sitting in front of it, then walk into it. e kids aren't just looking at pictures." Veteran Latin teacher Legendre sums it up: "is is not your parents' Latin experience." Legendre, who has been teaching Latin at Latin for 15 years, is grateful for colleagues Landis and Whitney Hellenbrand, who joined the faculty in 2013 and 2014, respectively, and are equally committed to making Latin exciting for modern learners. Landis' Latin 3 and Honors Latin 3 students engage in a year-long role-playing game that takes place in the year 930 AUC. e 23 students in the two classes are split into five clans. Each clan must stay true to the time period while trying to persuade Emperor Marcus Aurelius to choose a candidate other than his son Commodus to be the next Roman emperor. Students who participated in last year's simulation played Marcus, Commodus and Marcus's daughter. Current students choose their identities from a group of character biographies and submit actions Latin and Classics teacher Sarah Landis engages modern day Latin learners through innovative curriculum. 28 This is not your parents' Latin experience." – Elissabeth Legendre, upper school Latin teacher

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