Salvete, sodales. χαίρετε, ὦ φίλοι.
May you have a happy new year! I hope this president’s letter finds you all warm and safely tucked away with family, friends, a good book, beautiful music, and whatever else helps you to feel peace and joy during these cold winter days. The recent snowfall brought these images to mind:
Vides ut alta stet nive candidum
Soracte nec iam sustineant onus
silvae laborantes geluque
flumina constiterint acuto?
Dissolve frigus ligna super foco
large reponens atque benignius
deprome quadrimum Sabina,
o Thaliarche, merum diota.
Horace, Ode I.9 1-8
(The cold snap inspired me to write this adaptation:
Do you see - how deep in snow stands white Soracte
how the trees struggle to bear that burden
how the basement pipes have frozen solid.
Dispel the seasonal cold and heap logs upon the hearth
bring forth the space heater, o Thaliarch,
and point it more piercingly at that wall.)
During my winter break, I found joy in peaceful reflection and time with my family. While visiting with my parents and high school friends, I found myself mulling over my own journey and the particular moments that shaped my identity as a classicist and a teacher, which was the theme of Daniel Libatique’s talk at the ClassConn Annual Meeting in November. I did not choose Classics, initially. I was required to study Latin in the seventh grade at Boston Latin School, where the school motto “sumus primi” imposed a philosophy of exclusionary success. The most vivid memory of my introduction: my eighth-grade teacher calling us “dumb-dumb kiddies” whenever we made a mistake. This focus on competitive achievement made me want to run and hide. I never imagined that I would want to continue Latin past those required courses. Then I discovered the pleasure of reading Latin poetry together with my classmates, uncovering layers of language as a collaborative act. It felt fun to learn and safe to ask for help. These have become pillars of my practice as a teacher: creating a playful, collaborative classroom and a space where mistakes and personal authenticity are embraced as essential to learning. Well, these are my on-going aspirations, at any rate!
I encourage you to share in the collaborative and (I hope!) joyful activity of Classics in person in Connecticut in 2025. This spring, bring your students to the 2025 Connecticut State Latin and Greek Day, which hosted over 40 schools and close to 1,200 people last year. We will host informal social gatherings at different locations in the state as we have in the past. (I’ve got my eye on Caius Farm Brewery in Branford, which was founded by a classical scholar and serves beverages with Greco-Roman appellations.) Fortune favors those of us living in the Constitution State with the annual CANE meeting to be held at Yale. I hope to see many of you there in person on March 21-22.
Although the rapid emergence of new technology can be stressful, I am appreciative of how it can connect us across space and time in this busy world. Let’s make the best use of technology this year to support our members and expand our organization. Past-president Andrew Morehouse created this survey to gather your input on how ClassConn can best serve its membership. What benefits do you use and enjoy? What different benefits would you like to have from ClassConn? If you know of classicists in CT who are not members, encourage them to join us. And visit the website to find more information about events like the annual meeting in the fall, ClassConnected in Retirement, CSLGD, funding, and membership. Contribute your own news, events, and Classical creations to the newsletter, such as these lepida carmina by Gil Gigliotti.
I will leave you with some pictures of Saturnalia 2024. My students celebrated this “best of days” by making and decorating cookies, making tali and playing Roman games, creating a lararium, decorating candles, and making sigilla. We sold cookies, fudge, and candles at our school holiday fest to raise money for the Connecticut Food Share.
curate ut valeatis,