Spotlight on Two Recent NCLG Grant Awardees, Matthew Dracoules and Joan Crist!

Matthew Dracoules (Pennsylvania) reports to NCLG on his expanded curriculum, aided by an NCLG Supporting Young Learners Grant:

'The very generous Supporting Young Learners Grant from the National Committee for Greek and Latin has opened various opportunities for acquiring visual and mythological literacy in our Latin classroom. The posters which the grant has provided feature authentic, Roman-period depictions of mythological tales which can be used in several student-centered ways: 1) “Be the Bard” students either pick or are assigned a picture and are tasked to learn the story behind that picture. Using online tools and reverse image searches makes this quite easy. Having learned about a specific picture, students will either present their findings before the class or share them in small jigsaw groups. This allows students to learn from and to teach one another. Students can then compose an original version of their personal favorite story. The very ambitious may then translate their composition into Latin. “Scavenger Hunt”: students use a word bank of names and terms corresponding to figures and items in the pictures. Either independently or in groups students then find out which names and terms are featured in which pictures by using online resources. 3) “Xenia”: students and teachers from art or literature classes come into the Latin classroom to observe the posters and pose original questions about them. The Latin students will bear the responsibility of answering those questions and explaining the poster to those students and teachers when they return for a second visit. We are very thankful to the NCLG for bringing Latin into living color in our classroom and for their help in building school community!'

Joan Crist (Indiana) tells NCLG about her use of a grant to extend her outreach too include many more students and create a more inclusive approach to learning Latin:

The Road to Latin textbook by Black Classicist Helen Chesnutt is our textbook for high school Latin classes at a majority Black school in a financially disadvantaged urban core community. I chose it because of its gradual story-based pedagogical strategy, for its rigor in grammar instruction, and because it deals more gently with the harsher realities of ancient Roman culture, such as enslavement, violence, and the treatment of women, than any other book I previewed. Last year, with help from a Society for Classical Studies grant, I worked with a gifted student artist, Dakarnevaeh Robinson, to create new drawings, and more drawings, for all 50 chapters of the book. One of our goals was to portray the characters as diverse in their skin color, so that our learners would feel at home with the stories, and she succeeded at that …and her new illustrations are already helping learners to infer the meaning of the stories more quickly and securely. We may be extending the Latin program into the elementary and middle school, and if so, having enough of these appealing books will be even more important. This NCLG grant supported making three more sets of texts… to build a complete collection for the school for the next few years. The booklets would serve over 100 students each year. The project as a whole promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion both by spotlighting the work of Chesnutt, a Black scholar, and by offering a Latin textbook that Black learners can feel at home with, so that more Black youth can benefit from the study of Latin and can be able to enter the field of Classics in college if they wish to do so.'

Dr. Teresa Ramsby and Dr. Ben Watson are joining the NCLG Executive Board, following an election process in February, 2026.  

Teresa Ramsby has now assumed the Committee Chair position and brings to the Executive Board her deep expertise in pedagogy and consummate skills in many areas of event planning and program support.

Ben Watson will be assuming the position of Vice Chair by June and brings much experience in advocacy, curriculum design, and administrative planning.

NCLG HELPS TO SPONSOR THIS EVENT

IT'S MORE IMPORTANT THEN EVER!

PLAN TO ATTEND 

LAD26 - MARCH 9-10

OUR  ONLY  EVENT IN 2026 

DUE TO FALL ELECTIONS!

------REGISTER HERE------BY JAN 30

SPEAK TO CONGRESSIONAL MEMBERS 

~IN PERSON 

~IN WASHINGTON DC!

Don't Forget to Enter the New 2025-2026                              NCLG Norma Goldman Memorial Ancient Attire Contest !

Yay! The 2025-2026 Contest is OPEN NOW DURING THE WHOLE YEAR.

Awardees win a replica bronze fibula pin and $25 certificate! 

Before you close the year, don’t forget to click this link and enter the NCLG 

2026 NORMA GOLDMAN CONTEST PADLET LINK

Submit a photo of yourself in any ancient attire on our Padlet! 

Enter by midnight, June 30, 2026. Any ACL member can enter.