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Sean O’Hara, Principal of Riverhead High School, Aidan Walsh, Teacher of Latin, and Denise Stevenson, Principal of English as a New Language and World Languages. Credit: Courtesy photo
The Riverhead Central School District will once again offer its popular Latin program to students after hiring a new teacher, Aidan Walsh.
Mr. Walsh will teach at various levels of the program at Riverhead High School. He holds an MA in New Testament / Early Christianity from the University of Chicago as well as an Advanced Certificate in Latin Teaching and a BA in Classical and Classical Languages, Literature and Linguistics from CUNY / Hunter College.
The program is considered a tradition for many students in the Riverhead School District and has been recognized by alumni for laying the foundations of education, opening doors and providing students with a better understanding of history and language.
The future of the program was uncertain when it was halted at the end of the 2020 school year, after Dr. Jeff “Doc” Greenberger and his wife, Lorene Custer, both retired. Dr. Greenberger had taught the high school course and Mrs. Custer the college course. The district had hired another replacement teacher, but that person resigned just as the 2020-21 school year was due to begin. Instead, the district offered a line through Sterling Academy, which offers classes to students in grades 6 through 12 in electives such as digital arts. engineering, health sciences, business, foreign languages and computer science
More than 500 people, including former students, signed a petition last year protesting the end of the program.
Now that the program is back, the response from the community has been overwhelmingly positive, according to Denise Stevenson, District Director of English as the New Language and Languages of the World for Grades 5 to 12.
“There was just such excitement,” she said. “I am delighted with the opportunity we have for our students who want to take Latin and I think the community is really excited about it.”
Mr. Walsh says that for now, the program will remain the same as it was. It has set itself various educational goals, including preparing third-year students for a language proficiency exam at the end of the year. Another goal is to make the course accessible to more students.
“I want to make the program as accessible and available as possible to try to expand the student population that Latin appeals to,” Mr. Walsh said. “Traditionally Latin has this kind of elitist reputation and during my time here I kind of want to push that back and create a Latin program accessible to all students.”
His biggest challenge so far has been the need to individualize instruction for each student while maintaining the rigor of the curriculum.
“This year we have students at various levels within each level,” he said. “For example, I have students in my Latin I class who took one year of Latin in college, and I have students who did not take Latin in college and are interested in Latin this year. “
Despite the challenges, students have a lot to look forward to and Mr. Walsh said he is committed to working with each student and staying aware of their individual needs and interests.
“In Latin, you can explore all facets of life in the ancient world, whether it’s mythology or history, love poetry or cookbooks,” he said. . “There is so much to explore and my goal is, especially with these small groups of students that we have, that I can really touch the unique interest of each student. “
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