ABOUT OUR SITE AND AEQUORA
The students and faculty of Truman State University operate an Aequora site at Ray Miller Elementary School in Kirksville, MO, located in Northeast Missouri. At Ray Miller Elementary, we are proud to partner with The Paideia Institute and offer Aequora as a curricular program during the school day.
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 throughout the continental U.S.
At Ray Miller 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, cultural understanding, and equity in education — all while making the ancient Mediterranean world fun and accessible to students of all backgrounds.
Aequora is shaped by a belief that everyone should have access to Latin and by a vision of Classics as an inclusive, diverse, and socially engaged field. Our textbook, Aequora: Teaching Literacy with Latin, introduces the basics of Latin vocabulary and grammar, Roman culture and mythology, and connections between Latin, English, and Spanish, all through games and activities designed to show students that learning Latin is fun!
To learn more about The Paideia Institute’s Aequora program, its groundbreaking curriculum, or how we can work together, click Partner with Us.
HOW WE TEACH AEQUORA
In our Aequora site, Truman undergraduate volunteers teach Latin and Classical culture to small groups of 4th-grade students at Ray Miller Elementary during the school day. Truman students, primarily Classics majors and minors, collaborate to create lesson plans and present material to the 4th graders in brief 30-minute lessons.
Lessons can vary from teaching word roots and direct objects through the Latin, to storytelling with Classical myth, to students writing a play to perform. Overall, the lesson content focuses on teaching the 4th graders knowledge and skills that are transferrable to their classroom curriculum and 4th-grade standards in literacy and reading.
At the end of the school year, the 4th-grade students are invited to Truman's campus for "Latin Day" where they engage in Classically themed events, like making their own mosaics, eating lunch as though at a Roman banquet, and learning about the Classical stories behind the constellations at the University planetarium!
To lend your support for the Classics and public literacy by donating to the Paideia Institute, click Support Aequora.
HOW TO VOLUNTEER
The Aequora program is sustained by enthusiastic volunteers all over the country who care about making a difference and want to fight educational inequality through sharing their love of Latin. We are always looking for new volunteers!
To learn more about volunteering at Ray Miller Elementary, or if you have questions about how you can get involved, use the Volunteer button below.
ABOUT OUR SITE COORDINATOR
Amy Norgard, our site coordinator, is an Assistant Professor of Classics at Truman State University. At Truman, she teaches classes in Latin language and culture at a variety of levels, and serves as advisor to Eta Sigma Phi, the undergraduate Classics Honors Society. Her Latin service-learning group was awarded a Missouri Campus Compact grant for AY 2017-2018.
For further reading about Amy's activity as Aequora coordinator in Kirksville, please see the abstract of her CAMWS 2019 paper.
Click below to learn more about Amy!