Aaron De Chiara, reporter
After a two year hiatus, middle and high school Latin students were finally able to return to Holiday Hill in Prospect for Connecticut State Latin Day (CSLD). For many participants, this was their first time attending this unique event.
There was plenty of excitement leading up to the trip, and everyone attending was thrilled to finally be on a field trip for the first time since pre-Covid. “Going into the trip, I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew I was going to learn a lot of cool stuff about Latin in general.” Sophomore Brady Pesaturo said.
Many of the students on this trip are devoted studiers of Latin and saw it as an opportunity for expanding their knowledge of the language. “It was an extension, I got to see a lot about culture and art about Latin so it was just a good experience.” Said Brady.
Sophomore Ankita Kuttichirayil had a similar perspective. “We got to meet people from other schools and compete with people and other schools at Certamen which is Latin trivia in areas like mythology, culture, and grammar.”
Cooper Culthup and Luca Pantaleo.
Image by Aaron De Chiara
Christina Corona, a Latin teacher who is on the board of planners for CSLD, was thrilled to finally have this event back in session, although it seems that Covid has taken its toll on the festivities. “It was at a much smaller scale and there was less security then there used to be.” She said, “ This year we had about 1200 in attendance and usually we have anywhere between 2100-2400 in attendance. It was good given the time frame but it was only 60%.”
Despite the smaller size of the event, CSLD was still able to celebrate in an exciting and unique way.
“The workshops, this year there were 16 workshops with topics from curses and games to greek and gladiatorial armor and laurel makings.” Ms. Corona said, “The preparation leading up to the various academic competitions in the past had the students looking at areas of Roman culture that we usually don’t have enough time to look at in class.”
