Will Knispel is a junior at Ridgefield High School in Ridgefield, Connecticut. He is currently enrolled in Latin IV Honors as part of the University of Connecticut’s Early College Experience (ECE). This past summer, he participated in the Paideia Institute’s Living Latin in Rome High School program. Prior to high school, Will began learning Latin in his spare time with his older siblings. Over the past two years, he has earned maxima cum laude and summa cum laude distinctions on the National Latin Exam.
Will is the founder, on-site coordinator, and sole teacher for Connecticut’s first and only location of the Paideia Institute’s Teaching Literacy with Latin program. He is now in his second year of volunteering at the Danbury Grassroots Academy in Danbury, Connecticut, where he teaches Latin language and culture to selected at-risk students. Last year, Will taught seventh-grade students, and this year he has expanded the program to include both seventh and eighth-grade students. He prides himself on teaching Latin in an accessible, engaging way through interactive lessons and hands-on activities.
As a certified Emergency Medical Responder and aspiring physician, Will particularly enjoys studying the intersection of medicine, health, and the Roman Empire.