CAMWS Committee for the Promotion of Latin
Annual Report, 2002

The 2001–2002 goals for the CAMWS Committee for the Promotion of Latin were very ambitious: 1.) identifying Latin programs in each state and anticipating openings; 2.) developing contacts between CAMWS members and state foreign language coordinators; 3.) creating a list of expert high school teachers willing to speak to college students about careers in high school Latin teaching, sponsoring such events, putting testimonials on the CPL website; 4.) identifying the Latin teacher programs and their coordinators in CAMWS territory and obtaining statistical information about their graduates; and 5.) developing and distributing information about Latin to high school administrators and counselors. This information has been posted on the following webpages: http://department.monm.edu/Classics/CPL/SupervisorsofForLangList.htm (for state foreign language coordinators); http://department.monm.edu/Classics/CPL/master_latin_teacher_list.htm (for expert high school teachers);
http://department.monm.edu/Classics/CPL/secondary_teaching_certification.htm (for Latin teacher training programs)

Gathering such information, albeit useful and even important, has proven difficult for CAMWS vice-presidents. Only twelve states or provinces have identified master teachers or listed secondary teaching certification programs. While it is uncertain whether the efforts of CPL and CAMWS vice-presidents are best utilized in this area, such information would seem central to the mission of CPL and of CAMWS. Who will gather such information if we do not?

CPL continues to offer modest grants for promotional projects. Thirteen grants were awarded to CAMWS members in ten states to support a variety of activities including persona performances, visits of Legio XIIII, and postage for mailings. Of the $4000.00 available for the academic year 2002-2003, all but $30.00 has been spent.

CPL continues to develop its electronic and print library of promotional materials. The most recent additions are electronic postings of: 1.) "The Standards for Classical Language Learning" (http://department.monm.edu/Classics/CPL/standards.pdf), 2.) an illustration of the Latin derivatives in the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution and 3.) "Latin: The Basic Language,". This last article, originally published in the THE FORUM edited by AUSTIN M. LASHBROOK in The Classical Journal. (Vol 64., no. 4. January 1969. Pages 162–166), contains endorsements for the study of Latin by famous Americans of the 1960's, including Richard Nixon, Edward Kennedy, and Nelson Rockefeller. A complete list of CPL Promotional Materials is available at
http://department.monm.edu/Classics/CPL/PromotionalMaterials.htm. While CPL receives many requests for print copies of promotional materials, it is not easy to keep track of the number of requests and materials sent.

The topic of this year’s annual pedagogy panel at CAMWS is "Linking Latin in the Curriculum Beyond the Latin Classroom. " The purpose of this panel is to suggest ways that Latin teachers can collaborate with colleagues in other disciplines and illustrate the broad intersection of Latin in the academic curriculum, not only by integrating inter-disciplinary material into Latin courses but also by expanding the Latin program beyond the traditional boundaries. The emphasis of this panel is on pedagogical materials and practical how-to’s. For the second year in a row, the winner of the Kraft Award for Excellence in Secondary Teaching will give a short presentation at the beginning of the CPL panel. If CPL is to continue to serve as host for this event (which it is honored to do), it is important that, in the future, the Kraft winner presentation receive separate mention in the written program.

The preparation of annual regional reports has proven to be particularly difficult this year. Only six (out of ten) were received by the deadline and one of these was actually an explanation of why there was no report for that region. Since these reports are an important part of the CAMWS historical record and a vehicle for maintaining an awareness of the state of Classics on the regional and local levels, it is probably time for CPL and for CAMWS to review the nature and purpose of these reports and to educate vice presidents as to their purpose.

In 2001-2002 CPL has responded to threatened closures of Latin programs in Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio with promotional materials or letter-writing campaigns. One cancelled program, at Talawanda High School in Oxford, Ohio, has been reestablished in large part due to local community effort.

The most pressing concern for CPL at the beginning of this new century is the growing need for more certified Latin teachers throughout the region. A whole generation of Latin teachers is rapidly reaching retirement age and very few new teachers are being produced in our college and university Latin programs. The regional reports are filled with references to the difficulty in filling vacant position, and, even worse, programs cancelled for want of a qualified teacher. While CAMWS members can rejoice in the present healthy enrollments in Latin on both the high school and college/university levels, it is important to look to the future to insure that the next generation of Latin teachers will be large enough to maintain and even increase the status quo. If current trends continue, however, it is more likely that the study of Latin will decline in the CAMWS region not for lack of student and parent interest, but for lack of teachers. CAMWS must do all it possibly can to make sure that there are qualified teachers for every community which wants to offer Latin.

Respectfully submitted,

Tom Sienkewicz
CPL Chair

This material was posted on the web by CPL Chair, Tom Sienkewicz, at Monmouth College, Monmouth, Illinois. If you have any questions, you can contact him at toms@monm.edu.

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