ABOUT OUR SITE AND AEQUORA
The Ashland Elementary School is located in Lexington, KY. At Ashland Elementary, we are proud to partner with The Paideia Institute and offer Aequora as an after-school program.
Aequora is a K-8 curriculum focusing on literacy education via Latin. Led by independent site-coordinators, Aequora has expanded to over 30 sites in 12 states. At Ashland Elementary, we have chosen Aequora because we believe in the benefits of a classical education. Through The Paideia Institute's Aequora curriculum, our volunteers harness the classical languages’ power to improve literacy while making the ancient Mediterranean world fun and accessible to students of all backgrounds. To support Aequora, please click on the button below.
HOW WE TEACH AEQUORA
Ashland integrates an in-depth study of the arts as students benefit from studies in dance/drama, art, chorus, keyboarding, orchestra and band. An innovative and creative arts team weaves the arts into the curriculum on a five-day rotation as well as an additional hour on F.A.C.T. Friday (Fine Arts Cultural Tract). At Ashland Elementary, the Aequora program runs as part of the F.A.C.T. Friday rotation. Aequora at Ashland meets in room 220 at 8:50am every Friday. Students attend for seven weeks before switching to a different Friday class. Joe teaches by speaking Latin to the students daily about their everyday life, following the Aequora curriculum and supplementing with stories and conversations about stuffed animals.
ABOUT OUR COORDINATOR
Joe Watkins is a first-year M.A. student at the University of Kentucky. He holds a B.A. in Classics from the University of Georgia. Between attending UGA and UKY, Joe taught high school Latin in the Atlanta area for three years, where he developed a keen interest in Language pedagogy and realized the inequity in access to Latin in public schools. Having read about Aequora previously, once he had moved to Lexington, Joe took over running the Lexington Aequora program from Ed Schade. Ed did a fantastic job at our Aequora site, and you can read about his experience as coordinator here. At the Ashland Elementary Aequora site, we always welcome new volunteers who have taken some Latin. Click on the image below to learn more about Joe and our Aequora site! To volunteer for Aequora at our site, please use the volunteer button below.
