Critical thinking, real-world applications and liturgical connections drive educators’ approach

METRO DETROIT — On the final day of school before the Christmas break, the halls of University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy were filled with the sound of students singing Christmas carols — in Latin. It’s a festive application of curriculum that John Feeney, a Latin teacher for 23 years at the all-boys school, has made an annual tradition.

Feeney says activities such as Latin caroling not only help the boys remember pronunciation of words such as “gaudete” (rejoice), but also cement the Latin words and phrases in the students’ minds, allowing them to begin to “think in Latin.”

“The old Latin carols help to show the timeless appeal of Latin,” Feeney said. “And caroling spreads a lot of Christmas joy in our building.”

U of D Jesuit has offered courses in the ancient language continually since opening its doors in 1877, making the Latin program 140 years old this year.  Of the 25 Catholic high schools in the Archdiocese of Detroit, more than half still offer Latin.

At St. Catherine of Siena Academy (SCA) in Wixom, students must take two years of Latin to graduate.  The all-girls high school opened in 2010.

St. Catherine principal Karen Ervin says the school requires Latin because it is the mother tongue of western civilization and involves a methodology and structure not found in other languages.

“We require both Latin and philosophy in an effort to teach these young women to be gifted in rhetoric and critical thinking,” Ervin said. “The idea is not for them to be able to speak fluently in Latin, but to be trained in thought.”

Latin teachers often find themselves explaining Latin’s usefulness in the face of arguments that it’s a “dead language.”

“To learn Latin is to become more attuned to how language works, and also to see how Latin intersects with the culture,” Feeney explained. “Our American experience is the result of a long connection to the history of Europe. Just look at the motto of almost every state or university, or take a dollar bill out of your pocket and think about why those Latin phrases are there, and what they mean.”

U of D Jesuit senior Adam Mastis is taking Latin for a fourth year, even though the school only requires three years of a world language.

“I took a fourth year because I really like Mr. Young’s approach to Latin,” Mastis said. “I enjoy history and its connections to Latin. Last year, we read Caesar’s dialogues; I found the cross-references to World War II events really interesting.”



Nicholas Young has been teaching Latin at U of D Jesuit for 26 years. In the last 10 years, he has seen an increase in Latin enrollment at the school, with 185 students taking Latin classes this academic year.

Nationally, participation in the 2016 National Latin Exam, given by the American Classical League, increased from 2015. In Iowa, participation was up by 400 percent. Some students enroll based on studies showing that Latin students have higher verbal SAT scores.

“We’re offering something of value,” Young said. “I think the increased interest is due to the history, the continuity, and the fact that we still use Latin vocabulary in science, business, law and a host of other fields.”

Young helps his students realize the connection between Latin and the Church, beginning his classes with Latin prayer, and exploring Latin as one of the continuums for the Catholic liturgy.

At St. Catherine, theology and Latin teachers work together with their students to examine the original language of the Mass.

“By going to the first translation of the Mass, we can learn what this worship means to us now,” Ervin said. “It helps them see that Latin is the root of the Church.”

U of D Jesuit’s newest Latin teacher, Steven Krepp, graduated from college in April and is proud to be part of a new generation of Latin educators. He enjoys seeing his students respond to the language for the first time.

“There’s a lot of tedious work with memorization and form, but I like to bring it to life by reading text from actual Latin authors. It’s almost like Latin story time and they love it,” Krepp said. “They have a lot of fun with it. When they see how passionate we teachers are about Latin, they often are as well.”

This semester, Krepp’s Latin I class will build Roman aqueducts with a little help from the school’s physics teachers.

Many of the freshmen in Krepp’s class say they’re taking Latin because of future plans to study law, medicine and engineering, while some enjoy the language for other reasons.

“Latin is the root for all Romance languages, and I think that’s kind of cool,” said freshman Nathaniel Ball.