ABOUT OUR SITE AND AEQUORA
The Don Bosco Center is a Community Center located in Port Chester, NY. At Don Bosco, 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 Don Bosco, 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.
HOW WE TEACH AEQUORA
Almost every Wednesday a group of volunteers from New York and Connecticut comes to the Don Bosco Center in Port Chester NY to instill both a love of Latin and a deep interest in the history of the Ancient World in younger students. What makes this center unique is a combination of its welcoming staff, great site coordinator, and incredibly enthusiastic students. Each week at Don Bosco we often see students return to listen to myths and play vocabulary games. Even on beautiful days, which could be perfect for playing outside, students come to learn and stay involved. The students who come to Aequora range from first graders to third graders, and although this variety pushes volunteers to adapt, the resulting modifications to the program make the lessons much more enjoyable for both the students and the instructors. In part, this is because we can explore the parts of Latin and Roman History that the students are interested in using the lesson plan as a starting point.
In the beginning of each lesson, we break into groups with 1-2 volunteers, and 3-6 students in each group. This allows for a more personal relationship between the students and the volunteers. The volunteers begin with a quick review of the last lesson's myth and vocabulary. Then, they begin the new lesson's myth. While reading the myth, volunteers adopt an ‘active reading’ style. We encourage the students to ask questions, and discuss the material as they learn it, with the understanding that they may be quizzed later. When we begin teaching the vocabulary, we help the students with pronunciation, and explain some derivatives in English and Spanish. At the end of the lesson, we usually come together into one group and play games or activities to give the students an opportunity to apply what they have learned that day. We periodically review the material through games such as Bingo and Jeopardy.
ABOUT OUR COORDINATOR
Felix Nusbaum, our Aequora site coordinator at Don Bosco, is a student at Rye High School. Aequora at Don Bosco works with young students, generally ages 9-12, and accepts high school age volunteers who are taking Latin in school. We hold lessons on Wednesdays from 4:30 to 5:30 pm, and we are always looking for new volunteers. To volunteer for Aequora at Don Bosco, please use the volunteer button below.
