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Classics in Full Color
about us
Cooney Classics exists to promote the teaching of the classics, including literature, history, mythology, and ancient languages like Latin and Greek. We do this by creating and sharing blogs, courses, articles and teaching resources which are free to all!
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FOUNDERS
Kate Cooney is a senior at Kellenberg Memorial High School in Uniondale, NY. She has studied Latin and classical culture since seventh grade, and is interested in the representation of women in the classics, and how that representation has and continues to influence our culture and literature today. Kate also plays for the Kellenberg Varsity Soccer team.
James Cooney is a sophomore at the University of Virginia. He has studied Latin throughout middle school, high school, and now college and is passionate about the Classics, soccer, family, and faith. He taught Latin and Classics to middle school students at St. Martin de Porres in Uniondale, NY through the Aequora Program at The Paideia Institute, which is working to expand access to Latin and Greek. He is now looking to expand his teaching to the Charlottesville area while at school.
Cooney Classics firmly believes that children of all backgrounds should have access to studying Latin and the classics, and that these subjects can inspire us all to look to the past for a better understanding of today, and the future.
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BENEFITS OF STUDYING THE CLASSICS
THE LANGUAGE
Studying Latin increases our vocabulary, because so many English words are rooted in Latin. It also helps us when learning any of the Romance Languages (French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Romanian) - because these all stem from Latin and have gendered nouns, similar sentence structure, pronouns and tenses.
THE HISTORY
Learning about ancient civilizations provides a framework and foundation for better understanding our modern world: most of our schools of thought on government, philosophy, medicine and religion come from these cultures.
THE CULTURE
The myths of these cultures are stories that have lived on for millennia; most of them have lessons to leave us with, and meaningful messages and themes which other cultures have re-interpreted time and time again.
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PROMOTING ACCESS
Aequora is a Classics program that places volunteers in schools to teach Latin, Greek and the Classics. It is run under a larger establishment, the Paideia Institute, which teaches Latin and Greek through online courses. I took an online Latin course in the spring term of 2019, and I was able to learn a lot and build on my Latin knowledge. Aequora’s free curriculum and textbook is open to all volunteers. It truly is an amazing program because they provide all of the materials and lessons, in hopes to encourage others to volunteer to teach Latin.
In 2021, I started a Latin club through Aequora at the St. Martin De Porres School in Uniondale, NY. I teach 7th and 8th graders using the Latin textbook provided, however I specialize lesson plans for our class. It has been a rewarding and fun endeavor so far, and I look forward to continuing the Latin club in the years to come!
