Last modified: Thursday, May 6, 2010 11:52 PM

EDT

Lynn Classical kids excel in exam

By Laura Paine / The Daily Item

Lynn Classical juniors and seniors pose with
LYNN - While Latin is rarely spoken in day-to- their certificates.
day conversation, Lynn Classical High School
students have been studying and excelling at
learning the ancient language, which is the root of most modern-day vernaculars throughout the
world.

The National Latin Exam (NLE) allows students to experience a sense of personal
accomplishment and success in the study of Latin language and culture, and to promote the study
of Latin while encouraging students. This year, more than 140,000 students from around the
world including Australia, Mexico, China, Bulgaria and Mozambique took the NLE.

In March, 90 Classical students took the NLE and 78 of them won awards.

Thirteen students won cum laude certificates, 18 won magna cum laude certificates, 18 won
silver maxima cum laude certificates which include silver medals. Twenty eight students
competed at the three different levels and won 28 gold medals, summa cum laude, which were
the top awards.

"Studying Latin at Lynn Classical now is a program that is very demanding of the students. They
have to do at least a half-hour of homework each night I put them through a rigorous program. It
is designed to get through four years of Latin so they can take Advanced Placement Latin," said
third-year Latin teacher Daniel McNeill.

"I think Lynn Classical has been characterized as a distressed school and for students to do as
well as they have on this test is testimony to the great things being done at Lynn Classical High
School," McNeill said. "This is a national exam and 90 students took the test and 78 of them won
awards. The 12 students who did not win awards scored close to the national average which was
26 correct answers out of 40."

The students followed the NLE syllabus and used tests from previous years to prepare for the
exam. During class, students do a number of exercises that are designed to teach them the
structure, grammar and classical culture of Latin within the day's lesson.

"They do a lot of reading connected passages in prose to understand classical culture in terms of
mythology and roman history. It gives, from a student's point of view, the best possible program
of study they can have to learn their own language, English. Latin is a much more complicated
structure than English so if they can master the structure of Latin, that gives them a tremendous
knowledge of English." McNeill said.
"I'm trying to recreate Lynn Classical, in terms of Latin, to the same level of excellence that it
had before. I think what the students did on this exam was proof that this is possible," McNeill
said. "By any opinion that you take about the National Latin Exam, you have to say that their
performance is outstanding. It's a worthwhile program and proves that teaching at Classical is
second to nobody. It may not be the best but it is certainly very good."