By: Emma Shapiro ’20
Latin teacher Doug Fraleigh has started his first year at the Middle School. Before teaching middle school Latin, Fraleigh taught Latin, Greek, archaeology, civilization and Roman mythology as a graduate student at UCLA for seven years and he taught Greek and mythology at the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth in past summers. Fraleigh taught for eight years total, focusing on Latin and mythology. He said he wanted to work at a school that has a great environment and community.
“I heard from other people that I get to work with students who are extremely talented and enthusiastic, and who wouldn’t want to do that. It seems like the best place you can be as a teacher,” Fraleigh said.
Fraleigh teaches three Latin classes, including Latin IA, Latin II and Latin III Honors. He also plays a major role with the Junior Classical League, a convention that specializes in Latin as an extracurricular activity. He specializes in language studies because he said they interest him and he wants to pass his knowledge to others.
Latin teacher Mercedes Barletta said that Fraleigh has been a beneficial addition to the community.
“Dr. Fraleigh seems really enthusiastic about teaching middle school students and helping to bring our Latin program fully into the 21st century,” Barletta said.
Fraleigh said his favorite aspects of the community include the welcoming atmosphere and the overall kind students.
“The faculty have been welcoming, but also all of the students who thank me at the end of class, and that kind of welcoming attitude is something that I really have seen in the classroom, not just towards me, but towards what we’re learning and the information I’m trying to share,” Fraleigh said.
Fraleigh plans to continue implementing the instruction of spoken Latin and making it enjoyable for his students. Fraleigh said he has great ambitions for his students, including his hope that his students will love and become very passionate about the language. He also said he wants his students to continue pursuing any language in the future. Fraleigh’s overall hope is that his students have an informative and good time in his classes.
His students have spoken highly about his class.
“He makes Latin really fun. We play a lot of games, but at the same time I’m learning a lot. The review we have been doing so far has been really helpful,” Latin II student Amy Kronenberg ‘20 said.