Middle States Accredited since 1986
SNEP TEACHER PRESENTS PAPER AT
AMERICAN CLASSICAL LEAGUE NATIONAL CONFERENCE
4th and 5th Grade ELA Teacher discusses the
(as written in the Niagara Gazette on Monday, July 20, 2009)
Photo Caption –
The American Classical League was founded in 1919 for the purpose of fostering the study of classical languages in the
Peg Baker, who teaches the Charleston Latin Program to fourth and fifth grade English Language Arts students at Stella Niagara, was asked to present her paper by Dr. Frank Morris of the
At the urging of SNEP principal, Sister Margaret Sullivan, Mrs. Baker received her certification in the Charleston Latin Program through an intensive two-day course taught at the
“I don’t teach Latin,” said Mrs. Baker. “I teach vocabulary acquisition.” A target word or phrase is introduced and the student investigates the words for their Latin roots and the English or Spanish derivations. Instruction is 20 to 30 minutes per day, but students carry their knowledge over to other subject areas.
“Students of the Charleston Latin Program,” Baker continued, “use the small amount they know, Latin root words, to solve what they don’t know. They make connections throughout their studies in all content areas; math, science, social studies, plus their foreign language connections in Spanish and French.” Classes study the evolution of words and language so that students see the connection between their world and the ancients. “It must be taught in this order; listen, speak, read, write.” said Mrs. Baker. “Because of our phonetic background, if the student were to see the Latin word first, they would pronounce it the way they would in English, when in fact vowels and consonants in Latin are quite different.
Interspersed throughout the lessons are stories of ancient
“Latin bridges cultural, ethnic and economic gaps for students.” continued Mrs. Baker. “Because it is no one’s language, it is everyone’s language. So our students from Asian and Middle Eastern ethnic backgrounds feel connected, and kids open up when the feel connected to each other by the common language components of the Latin root words.”
In addition to teaching at Stella Niagara, Baker is also an adjunct professor at
Dr. Morris visited Stella Niagara twice in the past school year to observe and collect data on the program’s progress. Morris was pleased to find that the Charleston Latin program was being taught exactly the way it was intended.
Congratulations to our students who participated in the
Vocation Awareness Contest.
This year we had six winners from Stella Niagara. Awards were given by Bishop Kmiec and the
In our religion classes taught by Ms. Burns, all students in grades one through seven discovered what it means to be called by God and to act on that call. The harvest is plenty, but the laborers are few. We support and encourage those who are listening to Gods call. Maybe one of our own will say “Yes”. We continue to pray for more vocations in our Diocese and all over the world.
Winners for Honorable Mention: Nicholas Trapasso, first grade, Michael Boland, second grade, Josh Brzusek, fourth grade, Jacob Bennett, fifth grade, Jordyn Giambra, sixth grade
