Just another reason why schools need to adopt Latin in the curriculum again. Latin, since it is an inflected language, is a tough subject because nouns decline and verbs conjugate and there are a lot of forms that must be known in order to use the language. This also gives the students a firm grasp of grammatical concepts while also familiarizing them with root words that form over 60% of the English language. Not to mention, if you can lick Latin, you can lick any language because by comparison, they are much easier to learn than Latin. Even better still, Latin forms the basis of Romance languages like Spanish, French, Italian, even Romanian. Here is an excerpt from the article:

A.L. Brown High School is bursting with great news these days. Our students and staff have worked hard this semester, evidently with solid results.

On Jan. 22, Principal Debra Morris was named Southwest Regional Principal of the Year by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. The honor was a surprise, even though last month Morris was honored as North Carolina’s High School Principal of the Year by the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

Morris receives $1,500 as the award winner, and the school receives another $1,500. Characteristically, she knows exactly where that money should go: scholarships for the seniors.

She gives others credit for her success.

“I’ve got the best staff in the world. It’s a team effort, and this is a great team,” Morris said. “Someone once told me that to be successful, you have to surround yourself with wonderful people, and I am surrounded by the best.”

Kannapolis City Schools Superintendent Jo Ann Byerly has praised Morris as “one of the most effective and charismatic leaders I have ever seen.”

The administrative staff and teachers at A.L. Brown can attest to her work ethic. Ellen Boyd, director of communications, said Morris works “80 or 90 hours a week,” providing leadership, making personal connections with staff and students and paying attention to details that can make or break a school each day.

SAT scores rise

Kannapolis City Schools also announced that SAT test results released recently show that the average SAT score in Kannapolis rose by 60 points last year, from 1388 to 1448. That strong increase came during a year when the state average dropped by seven points, to 1486.Brown’s average math score rose by 15 points, its writing score by 19 and its verbal score by a whopping 26 points.

Morris has emphasized verbal and writing skills every day at Brown, with words of the day and a practice SAT exercise an integral part of each student’s daily routine. Morris has also added more Advanced Placement and Honors courses to the curriculum, and three Latin courses as well.

(As the Latin teacher at Brown, I am convinced that language study plays a significant role in this increase. Statistics prove that the study of any world language will increase verbal skills tremendously.)

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