Back in February, all of our Latin students participated in the National Latin Exam, along with more than 150,000 students across the United States and around the world. The results were released last week. During our Middle School morning meeting on Wednesday, Latin teacher Tina Hansen announced that 53 of our students had scored well enough to earn honors certificates or medals. This is a notable accomplishment, especially at a time when the study of Latin has become an exception rather than a common course in middle schools.

Why do we teach Latin, and why does this ancient language matter in a progressive school like Foote? Our students, and our faculty, can provide many answers to these questions. At the top of the list: It's fun, especially the way Tina Hansen and Drew Sweet teach. It's also empowering to be able to interpret complicated words in English and other languages.