Here at Osbourn, many world languages are offered. Languages such as French and Spanish, but did you know that OHS also has Latin classes? The Latin classes are taught by Dr. April Spratley and go from Latin 1 to Honors Latin 5. Latin has been offered here at OHS for twenty years, but the current teacher, Dr. Spratley has only been here for two years.

“I took Latin because I wanted to learn more about the language as well as read some stories in Latin and learn about Roman culture,” said sophomore Kathrine Rivera.

 Dr. Spratley teaches Latin classes here at the high school as well as at Metz Middle School, spending half of the school day at Metz and the rest at Osbourn. 

“I graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Classics from the University of Pittsburgh. I got my Master’s Degree in Classics from the University of Pittsburgh as well. I got my Doctorate from the University of Florida in Classical Studies,” explained Dr. Spratley.

“I actually took four years of Spanish in high school. I took Latin my senior year because I wanted to go to the Latin Convention, which always seemed to be fun. I ended up liking the stories we were reading a lot, so I decided to continue my studies in college. I also really liked music; much later, I got to combine both my love of music and my Latin studies, since in my scholarly life outside of teaching I research ancient Greek and Roman music,” said Dr. Spratley.

“I look forward to learning more about Roman beliefs and more about their day-to-day life in Ancient Rome,” said Kathrine Rivera.

“I enjoy hearing stories and when we get to make our own. The structure of the language is also nice and easy to comprehend. The way we learn about the government and history as a whole is interesting too,” said senior Latin student, Justin McNeill.

“I look forward to learning about the different myths,” said sophomore Sifen Abdulkadir.

Each student who takes Latin is looking forward to learning about a specific thing, whether that’s the history, the stories, or ancient Roman culture. As students take the more advanced classes they will learn about more detailed and interesting topics surrounding the daily lives of the ancient Romans. Things like ancient music might also become accessible to the more advanced classes. 

 “When I was working on my Master’s, I had a teaching fellowship, meaning in exchange for having my tuition paid for by the university, I would teach a class each semester. I realized that teaching my class was often my favorite part of my day, so I decided to become a teacher full-time. I very much enjoy working with students and helping them to reach their fullest potential,”  said Dr. Spratley. 

Dr. Spratley realized she enjoyed teaching the same way some of her students found out about her class. Latin students Justin McNeill and Sifen Abdulkadir were in the IH program and took Latin at Metz and decided to keep doing it throughout high school. 

“Latin came with a gifted program I was taking, and I continued to take it because it was easy for me,” said McNeill.

“It was a part of the IH program and I felt more familiar with it than the other languages,” said Abdulkadir.