MM

Avete, y'all! I’m Magistris McIntire (they/them), lead teacher and teacher of neuterque et uterque this year. Here are some things about me!

Recently I've enjoyed...

• camping with friends
• dogsitting
• running creative arts at PAJCL Latin convention (dramatic interp has my heart- ask me about it!) 
• making really bad ancient Roman bread
• playing soccer
• discovering weird new music (open to suggestions)
• watching White Lotus
• making jewelry at Lowe's
• volunteering with National Senior Classical League aka running NJCL Latin convention (you should join once you graduate!)
• celebrating June's holidays thus far
• seeing multiple nerdy Classics lego exhibit... which I will now share here because if not hic, then ubi??

I teach Latin in Philadelphia, but I used to be in your very shoes- scouring through the seemingly endless pages of the Latin Academy information packet.

If I may get deep for a second, Latin Academy is such a special time. As a student, nothing compared to being surrounded by other Latin nerds and being able to make “obscure” jokes about stabbing salads and calling it Caesar. But it was also intimidating. I was one of the best Latin students at my own school, but I was suddenly not the only obvious choice for the teacher’s favorite.

As Academy went on though- I learned it wasn’t about being the best. It was about trying new things- like acting, memorizing poetry, and (scariest of all) making small talk in Latin. It was about making grammatical mistakes (while talking to teachers) and asking questions (which others already knew the answer to), but it was okay- even encouraged. Best of all, it was about forming friendships. Each new friend had a vastly different set of talents. While I was daunted at first, I then was able to learn so much from them about music, origami, and exactly how far south "nova" stretches. But we all shared a love of Latin, and I still have friends from Academy today!

No matter how you estimate yourself compared to your peers, if you go all in, commit to learning, and lean into community, then you've won. You are all passionate about Latin. You've already been accepted to Latin Academy. We’re just here to love learning. Can't wait to see the unique love you bring to the Academy.
-MM