During the week of March 13-17th, LCHS Latin students will take the National Latin Exam which is offered under the joint sponsorship of’ the American Classical League and the National Junior Classical League. As reported by the National Latin Exam committee . . . “More than 148,000 Latin students across the U.S.A., Australia, Belgium, Canada, England, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Niger Republic, Poland, Switzerland, Zimbabwe took the NLE took the 2005 National Latin Exam. This year for the first time, students from China and France also took the exam.. See “National Latin Exam Awards” for LCHS previous years’ results.

About 45 Lexington Catholic students, parents, and teachers will tour Italy in June through EF Tours. The itinerary includes three days in Rome and excursions to Florence, Ostia Antica, Pompeii, and Capri. There are currently spaces for four students (cost $2,208) remaining on the trip, and anyone interested should contact Ms. Larkey at blarkey@lexingtoncatholic.com.

Important Dates
January 31 - extended travel requests must be submitted
February 21 - all fees due
March 22 - tour dates confirmed
March 26 - enroll in optional all-inclusive insurance plan
April 11 - enroll in optional excursions: Florence ($65), Catacombs ($35)

Anyone who still needs a passport should apply NOW! EFTours recommends that participants bring $35 - 65 per day for spending money to cover lunch expenses and souvenirs. Ms. Larkey recommends changing some American money into Euros before departure. Credit cards are widely accepted in Italy, but participants should inquire about fees on purchases made in other countries and also contact their banks and credit card companies to advise of travel plans. Some credit card companies refuse payment on purchases made from out-of-character locations!

LCHS Latin students are fortunate to have Mr. Gollan as a student teacher this semester. Mr. Gollan, a native of Australia, got an undergraduate degree from the University of Sydney and is a graduate student in the University of Kentucky’s Institute of Latin Studies, a program which cultivates fluency in spoken Latin. During summers he has studied in Italy with Father Reginald Foster, resident Latin scholar at the Vatican. Mr. Gollan comes to teaching after a technical career with Sun Microsystems in California. In the mornings Mr. Gollan teaches Latin to fourth and fifth graders at Northern Elementary and Booker T. Washington Academy. He is student teaching in Ms. Larkey’s afternoon Latin I classes. He will also work with students participating in the dramatic interpretation competition of the Kentucky Foreign Language Festival, and will accompany us to Italy this summer.

Latin students are invited to a field trip to Nashville on March 3-4th. The itinerary is still tentative, but plans may include in addition to a tour of the Parthenon, the Frist Center of the Arts, the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art as well as a few delectable Italian meals. The cost of the trip will be $85. Please read the complete details. Sign-ups will go through February 10th, but we are taking only one bus, and it may fill very quickly. Participants will be first come, first served!

The Latin Club will sponsor a bake sale during all lunch shifts on Friday, February 10th in front of the cafeteria. Latin students should bring baked goods individually wrapped in serving sizes to be sold for 50 cents. Place your baked goods in Ms. Roche’s office before school. Volunteers to sell the goods should sign up with Ms. Larkey and Mrs. Scaife during Latin classes. All proceeds will go to help defray costs of the Nashville Parthenon trip.

Our regional festival will be hosted at Transylvania on Saturday, March 25th. Students may compete in reading comprehension, Latin vocabulary and grammar, culture/history/myth, and English derivatives. Creative contests include models, artwork, chorus, drama, videos, games, and costume. The deadline for registration and fees is February 10th. Please read the directions for full details and costs and the schedule for competition times and locations. The complete set of rules for all academic and creative competitions are recorded on the Kentucky World Language Association’s website.

The Latin Club will host “Pizza and Movie Night” on Wednesday, January 25, from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. Students will gather in the theater lobby to eat pizza, then in the theater for the 1960’s claymation version of “Jason and the Argonauts.” Come join us, one and all, and reserve your space by paying $2.00 to Ms. Larkey or Mrs. Scaife on Monday or Tuesday.

Latin I and II students make Roman writing tablets from beeswax. During the KJCL Convention Mrs. Scaife led a seminar on Roman writing. Students who participated made 35 Roman tablets which will be sold this summer at the National Junior Classical League bazaar. This project was done in conjunction with the Kentucky Classical Association to generate money for the Ruth Longacre-Lou Swift Scholarship, a fund established at the University of Kentucky for the certification of Latin teachers and graduate student projects in the field of Classical Studies.

Lexington Catholic’s Open House provided an opportunity for Latin students to display their Museum of Ancient Coins. Lexington Catholic High School is one of only six schools in the United States which has been selected by Ancient Coins for Education (ACE) to have a collection of ancient Greek and Roman coins for use in Latin classes and to share with other students and the community in a museum display. ACE sollicits donations of ancient coins for the museum as well as supplies 4th century Roman bronzes for students to research. Latin III Honors students researched coins during the fall semeter, and AP students developed exhibit materials to teach about museum coins which related to the AP Vergil curriculum. Models of cultural artifacts such as a gladius (Roman sword), a human-powered crane, the Pantheon and Colisseum complemented the coins, and Ms. Larkey lured visitors from the hall with delectable homemade Roman foods. The day after Open House, all Latin students spent their Latin class period exploring the Ancient Coin Museum.

On the weekend of November 18-20th, 2005, LCHS Latin students joined almost 400 Latin students from around Kentucky at the Executive Inn West, Louisville for the Kentucky Junior Classical League Convention. Students competed in academic competitions and Certamen matches, attended seminars by University of Kentucky Classics professors, and enjoyed swimming, chess, and bowling and spirit events. On Saturday night everyone donned togas, tunics, and stolas for the “Rent-A-Roman” sale and Roman banquet, followed by a talent show. LCHS students earned many awards in competitions. We wish to thank Mr. Batson and Mr. Hilton who accompanied Ms. Larkey and Mrs. Scaife as chaperones for the weekend.