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Director
Jacquelyn Wilkins she/her Class: Mercatus Contact: [email protected] Jacquelyn Wilkins earned her B.A. in History and Classics From Sweet Briar College and completed the Post Bacc in Latin and Greek at the University of Pennsylvania. This is her sixteenth year working with the Latin Academy: she served as a teacher in 2009, Lead Teacher from 2010-2014, Director from 2015-2019, a teacher in 2021, and has returned as Director from 2022-2025. She has taught classes ranging from the construction of identity in the Roman Empire to Bronze Age Archaeology. Jacquelyn has taught Latin at Northside High School, William Byrd High School, and EC Glass High School. When she isn’t learning how to decolonize her classroom and how to limit the impact of bias on academic research, you can find Jacquelyn designing her next tattoo, geeking out over sci-fi and superheroes, preparing her new daughter Brittany (an academy alumna) for her first archaeological dig, and snuggling with her five cats. Her favorite ancient authors are Homer, Herodotus, Ovid, Tacitus, and she has fallen in love with inscriptions and graffiti. |
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Lead Teacher
Magistra McIntire they/them Class: Quid Rides? Magistra McIntire teaches Latin at William Penn Charter School in Pennsylvania. They received their MA in Classics from Washington University in St. Louis and their BA from Randolph-Macon College- the very place your students will be staying this summer! This is their 7th year with Latin Academy after previously attending as a student, RA, lead RA, and teacher. Their Classical research interests include ancient gender roles and culturally responsive pedagogy. During free time, they like to play soccer, ancient DnD, and any show on Dropout with Anna Garcia or Vic Michaelis. They are very excited to explore the humorous methods of Plautus, Horace, Martial, Juvenal, Petronius, Seneca, graffiti, and even yourself! |
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Teacher
Noah Cogan he/him Class: Διονύσια τὰ μεγάλα / Ancient Greek Noah Cogan earned his B.A. in Greek & Roman Studies from Vassar College, his M.A. in Greek & Latin from the University of Maryland College Park, and his M.Ed. from the Klingenstein Center at Columbia University in Private School Leadership. He currently teaches Latin and Ancient Greek as well as sponsors various organizations such as the Genders & Sexualities Alliance and Political Awareness Club at St. Catherine’s School in Richmond, VA. He is so excited to be back for his third in-person Latin Academy. He loves epic poetry and making Greco-Roman literature more accessible for modern audiences. His interests outside of Greek & Roman culture are playing and listening to all types of music, playing and watching soccer, board games, and reading, particularly fantasy books. He is currently enjoying the Stormlight Archives and Earthsea series. |
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Teacher
Olivia Koshute she/her Class: voces feminarum Olivia Koshute earned her B.A. in Classics and English from the University of Virginia in 2023. In the 2023-2024 school year she taught Latin at South Lakes High School in Fairfax County, VA. She is currently a Teaching Assistant and Graduate student studying for her M.A. in Classics and M.A. in Teaching World Languages at the University of Kentucky. She is excited to return for her fifth summer at the Latin Academy after previously attending as a student, Lead RA, and teacher. Her classical interests include women and gender in antiquity, mythology, and North Africa in classical antiquity. Some of her favorite Latin authors are Sulpicia, Vergil, and Ovid. Aside from Classics, Olivia also loves theater, playing violin, soccer, and geeking over animated shows. |
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Teacher
Benji Hess he/him Class: Benji Hess earned his BA in Classics from Washington and Lee University in 2023 with minors in both Art History and Archaeology. He has since been living in Greece to complete his Post-Bacc in Classical Studies while holding two volunteerships in ceramic and osteological archaeology labs. He will soon be relocating to Graz to teach English and research Classical reception with a joint offer from Fulbright Austria and the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research. This will be his second year with GLA, having also served as an RA in MMXXIII. Outside of academics, Benji loves music, hiking—Greek and Latin idylls make for a great part of his research—and reading. |
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Teacher
Cully Wilkins he/him Class: Latina Loquenda Cully Wilkins received his BA in Latin and Ancient Greek at Randolph-Macon College in 2022. He then attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst and received his MAT in Latin and Classical Humanities in 2024. He looks forward to encouraging the speaking of Latin at the Academy during his first year on staff! He now resides on the banks of the James River in Richmond, Virginia, and works as a Latin teacher in Chesterfield County. Outside of the classroom, Cully has a personal interest in the works of Lucan, Lucian, in the Latin Literatures of the European Middle Ages, and in the history of Roman Art, Architecture, and Coins. Outside of academics, Cully enjoys walking around, hiking around, traveling around, writing poetry and prose, gaming virtually and on boards, and spending time with his friends and loved ones. haec est sententia sua: discendum est cotīdiē aliquid novī |
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Teacher
John Burgess he/him Class: After Lucian’s True History John Burgess grew up in Massachusetts and earned his B.A. in Classical Languages at Haverford College in Pennsylvania in 2020. During the spring semester of his junior year, he attended Duke University’s Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome, west of the Tiber. Since college, he has worked at the Nysmith School in Herndon, Virginia, where he teaches middle school, despite not having started Latin until high school himself. With an interest in art history, he has given unofficial tours of the medieval artifacts at the Bishop’s Garden in Washington, D.C. Throughout the school year, he hosts a running club twice a week. One of four siblings, he is ironically the only one without a classical name. |
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Lead RA
Joseph Amsbary he/him Elective: Roman Masculinity Joseph Amsbary earned his B.A. in Classical Studies and Psychology from William & Mary in 2024. He is currently at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for an MAT in Latin and Classical Humanities. He hopes to return to Virginia to teach Latin after graduating next year. This will be Joseph’s third summer at Academy, having previously attended as a student in 2019 and an RA in 2023. His main interests in the Classics surround using ancient society to better understand the modern world. Outside of the classroom, Joseph enjoys hiking, ultimate frisbee, board games, and politics. |
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RA
Laura Church she/her Elective: Zoology in the Ancient World Laura Church is a Classical Studies student at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Laura is returning to GLA as an RA this year after attending as a student in MMXXII. Laura has spent the year working as a Volunteer in the University of Edinburgh History, Classics and Archeology library, focusing on the Greek Authors collection. This interest was sparked during her time studying Greek rituals while at GLA. Laura is also interested in the ecology of the ancient world and the lasting effects. Independent of her studies, Laura loves spending time outdoors and really enjoyed her recent visit to three sites on Hadrian’s wall. |
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RA
Sophie Shobeiri she/her Elective: Tangible Texts Sophie Shobeiri is a recent graduate of Wellesley College with degrees in Classical Civilization and Biological Sciences. She studied for a semester at the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome and spent a summer excavating Mycenaean tombs with the Eastern Boeotian Archaeological Project. She is thrilled to return to GLA after being a student in MMXX. Her academic interests center on the materiality of ancient texts—how the physical form of ancient books informed and influenced ancient writers and readers. Her honors thesis combined philological research with experimental archaeology to explore these questions. She is also fascinated by ancient crafts, particularly mosaics, and has a growing interest in ancient Persian mythology. Beyond her studies, Sophie is fond of acting as paparazzi for her four cats and hiking the Blue Ridge |
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