Nine students from St. Michael elementary and high schools in Brattleboro earned top awards in the 2023 National Latin Exam.

“It takes hard work and commitment” to achieve such success on the test given annually to Latin students throughout the world to promote and support the learning and teaching of the Latin language, said one of the schools’ two Latin teachers, Helen Schultz.

Some 100,000 students in 21 countries took this year’s exam.

The winners from the Brattleboro Catholic schools are:

+ Lily Tainter — cum laude certificate (“with honor”)

+ Dezrah Bills — magna cum laude certificate (“with great honor”)

+ Anthony Bills, Sean Froula, Sam Buchanan, Hudson Buckley, Carter Buckley, and John-Paul DeLaBruere — maxima cum laude certificates (“with greatest honor”)

+ James Gardner — summa cum laude certificate (“with highest honor”).

James received a perfect score on the exam.

Latin is informally introduced to the students at St. Michael School in the third grade; formal coursework is required from grades seven through 12.

Carter, a junior at the high school, is considering a career in foreign affairs and finds that studying Latin helps him “pick up” other Romance languages more quickly: “It gives you an excellent base to learn a new language.”

In addition, studying Latin helps with his study of theology because some texts are written in both Latin and English, and the Latin text helps him understand concepts better.

“We have a high level of theology and chemistry (taught here), and Latin helps us better understand some of the more complicated terms like ‘transubstantiation,” said John-Paul, a junior.

Schultz pointed out that 60 percent of all English words are derived from Latin; 90 percent of words with more than two syllables are.

Eighth grader Dezrah said she has found it easy to learn Latin, noting that she learned all of the Latin I lessons in less than a trimester when she transferred to St. Michael’s from another school where she took Spanish. “Knowing Spanish helps you learn Latin,” she said.

Latin, said sophomore Hudson, “is a good start for other languages.”

“You know you know Latin when you’re writing in English and it looks wrong,” said Sean, a freshman, because “you’re thinking in Latin” and sometimes writing in Latin too.