Zest at Its Best

In our Latin classroom, we have an open door policy on extra credit: as long as students have completed all assignments, they are encouraged to weave their passions into their studies. The result is a natural pursuit of the Habits of Scholarship and Citizenship at Park: 

While I now have an archive of passion-driven student work that I could share here, I want to highlight one project that is “zest at its best!”

For the second year in a row, Erika has chosen to translate an extra story from Latin into English, and then narrates as her family dramatically reenacts the story.  This year, Erika translated the last story in our textbook “Exitium,” which translates to “The Destruction.” This task required her to work through new vocabulary and unfamiliar grammatical constructions – not an easy task.

Exitium captures the story of Emperor Domitian’s wife (played by Cate) and her failed affair with a man named Paris (played by Luke). Follow this link to view the video of their family’s interpretation: Exitium

For an encore, I also recommend the family’s rendition of Pyramus & Thisbe, from A Book of Latin Plays. You will recognize some of your favorite characters from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Jack’s debut as “the Lion” is not to be missed.

We define zest as “an excitement for learning, which may be expressed overtly or quietly, that motivates oneself and inspires others.” In Erika’s plays, three generations of family, and students from all three divisions at Park, are demonstrating zest at its best! Zest for their studies in the translations, zest for historical clothing and hair styles in the costumes, and, most importantly, zest for family learning together.

-Katie