Editor’s Note: Charlotte Stone is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Knight Writers.
In its final year Robinson’s Latin Club has faced many challenges and setbacks, yet still managed to leave a lasting impact on the school community. Despite facing dwindling interest and the numerous program cuts, members of the club remained committed to promoting classical studies and fostering a love for the ancient language and culture.
“During my time in Latin Club, the biggest challenge has been getting people to join now that the Latin program has been cut. On top of that, those who may have an interest in Latin struggle to get the knowledge necessary to compete without having taken any Latin classes,” said Charlotte Stone (’24), co-President of Latin Club.
In reality, the departure of Latin has been a long time coming. In 2021 Robinson tried to cut the Latin program but, there were enough complaints that they agreed to keep it as a class. However, the next year the class would be officially cut due to a lack of students taking the class.
After the class was cut, many students still wanted to continue their love for Latin, so instead of a class, they continued on as a club. However, this proved to be a challenge. Although many students wanted to join, it was difficult to learn the necessary topics in order to compete in State competitions without a standardized class. Now, without a club, individually competing in Latin competitions will prove difficult.
“The departure of the club will prevent students from being able to compete in Florida Junior Classical League competitions, unless they plan to register as students unaffiliated with any school. This is a shame because we usually do really well in competitions and are able to win awards for the school,” Stone said. “During its time at Robinson, the Latin Club contributed to the Robinson community through countless awards and honors on both the regional, state and national level. The club provided a space to express a passion for history and learn about ancient civilizations.”
Former Latin teacher and club sponsor James Buchanan reflected on the many challenges faced by the club.
“We’ve had a number of challenges over the years. I mean, last year, we literally had to dumpster like I filled an entire dumpster of trophies that we won at state and regional competitions because no one would buy us a trophy case, no one would do anything [and] put them anywhere…so just having some support for the club was just never quite where I needed it to be,” Buchanan said. “We have had some decent levels of support over the years. We hosted competitions, and people were there for us which is great, but when it comes down to it, the class was a dying class.”
As the school bids farewell to this cherished club there is a sense of pride and gratitude for the lessons learned shared and learned through the club. Though Latin club may be no more, its legacy will continue to thrive in the hearts and minds of all who were fortune ate enough to be a part of the club.
“I am really sad to see Latin club go. It’s a really unique opportunity to learn about history and culture while also learning a language. The absence of Latin Club will impact the cultural diversity at Robinson because it erases one of the opportunities for students to expose themselves to outside history and culture (even if it’s the culture of a dead civilization),” said Stone.
