Lynn LiCalsi '81
"I never planned to grow up and become a Latin teacher, but it has been a joy thinking about Latin each day, and I cannot imagine a better way to spend my life."
Tempus Fugit. It feels like yesterday that I sat in Katherine Geffcken's Latin classes in Founders Hall, but it has been 34 years. Back then, Ray Starr was the young new hire from Princeton, a popular professor who breathed new enthusiasm into the Classics. I was graduated in 1981 as an English major with Latin as my language. I had done some Latin tutoring that year and absolutely loved doing it, so when a teaching job in Latin came up at the Westover School in Middlebury, Connecticut, I decided to apply, not knowing at all that I would spend 28 years in the profession. I had already applied to graduate schools in Medieval Studies, but suddenly the idea of teaching Latin seemed appealing.
When I arrived at Westover, I learned that Laurel McByrnie, a Wellesley graduate, was leaving the school for an adventure of some sort. I was hired to take her place at the Connecticut boarding school and taught 5 Latin classes, 1 World History class, coached field hockey, helped with theater, and lived on a hall where I supervised students. I took a group to Italy and Greece during my second year.
After living in idyllic Connecticut, I moved to Boston and found a job in Wellesley, Massachusetts, of all places. As a Wellesley student, I was unaware that Dana Hall even existed. I taught alongside James Aisner and Elaine Elliot for many years. Elaine Elliot was the best Latin teacher in the state at the time, and I can honestly say that I honed my skills working with her.
After Westover, life took me in different directions: Germany for a year, then Minnesota, then Denver. After two children and some Latin teaching in Boulder, I took a full time job at the University of Denver High school. When I learned that there would be a major construction project between my home in Boulder and Denver, I looked for a job and landed at Fairview High School in Boulder, where I built the current program.
I have been at Fairview for nearly 14 years, and I teach 6 classes daily (165 teens, levels 1, 2, 2PIB, 3, 3PIB, 4, and 4IB). My principal, Don Stensrud, is the kind of administrator whose passion for learning has never died. My colleagues and I can experiment. I love my job because I am constantly learning. I do not teach from a single textbook, and this year I am taking a big chance with my third year college prep students by having them read, edit, and perform the Mostellaria. One of the best traditions at Wellesley was the Latin plays that were put on each spring, and I am going to apply this to my teaching in Boulder. Having the freedom to teach Latin so that students truly enjoy it and know it well has been the highlight of my career. I never planned to grow up and become a Latin teacher, but it has been a joy thinking about Latin each day, and I cannot imagine a better way to spend my life.