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Why take Latin at Dripping Springs High School?

For a start, how about improved SAT scores? 

Studies conducted by the Educational Testing Service show that Latin students consistently outperform all other students on the verbal portion of the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT).

  2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Latin 665 665 666 672 674 681 672 678
All Students 505 506 504 507 508 508 503 502
French 636 633 637 638 642 643 637 637
German 621 625 622 626 627 637 632 632
Spanish 589 583 581 575 575 573 577 574
Hebrew 623 628 629 628 630 620 623 622

1999-2005 Taken from Table 6 in College-Bound Seniors — A Profile of SAT Program Test Takers. 2007 data taken from 2007 College-Bound Seniors-Total Group Profile Report.

"One of the most PRACTICAL benefits of studying Latin for high-schoolers is boosting verbal skills and scores on tests like the SAT; students with two or more years of Latin typically score 140-160 points higher on the SAT than their Latin-less peers. Numerous studies have demonstrated a significant positive correlation between studying Latin and improved scores on a variety of tests and even with college GPA and performance in college English classes.

Of course, even more important is the broadened cultural perspective that comes with studying Greco-Roman civilization, a major component of the high-school Latin curriculum. The Roman world exerted enormous influences on our own culture, so that to be ignorant of Roman civilization is to be ignorant of our own roots.

"An important consideration too for our own multicultural society is the fact that the Greco-Roman world was what I like to call the "archetypal multiculture." The Roman empire at its greatest extent included all the peoples living around the Mediterranean Sea and the widely disparate cultures of not only Europe but also Asia, the Near East, and North Africa. Rome was thus a cultural melting pot and the lessons we can learn from the world of Rome are invaluable to all of us in America today."--Richard A. LaFleur, Franklin Professor of Classics, University of Georgia

For more information about the benefits of studying Latin in the modern world, please go to www.promotelatin.org.

 
Magistra Ginny Lindzey is the Latin teacher for Dripping Springs High School, Dripping Springs, Texas. All questions and comments about this website should be sent directly to Magistra Lindzey. In fact, students and former students as well as parents are encouraged to contact Magistra Lindzey.

These web pages last updated July 4, 2008.