Excellence Through Classics (ETC): More than Just a Name Change
by Susan Senechal, Cape Henry Collegiate School, VA, and Kris Tracy, University of Denver
History
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1988
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ETC is Born |
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First Activity Packets
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First Issue of Prima
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1990
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First Myth Exam 4th – 8th grades |
| 1991 |
One Activity Packet |
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1992
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3rd Graders Added |
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African Myths Subtest
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| 1993 |
Native Americans Subtest |
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Changes in Packet to reflect new Subtests
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| 1994 |
Narrower Focus for Classical Subtest |
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Shorter Bibliography
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9th Graders added
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| 1995 |
Myth Exam Packet |
| 1996 |
One Source for First Forty Questions |
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Conscious Effort to Correlate Packet with Exam
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Theme
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Old Packets Consolidated
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ETC started in 1988. It grew out of a National Endowment for the Humanities Institute whose purpose was to explore methods of guaranteeing that significant literature is taught in elementary classrooms. David Baumbach was the first president of ETC, and if he were still alive, he would have been instated for another term as president at this Institute. Unfortunately, David died this past winter, but we all remember him as a great supporter of ETC and a wonderful, warm person.
I remember my first contact with ETC. I received a letter offering me the opportunity to become a “charter member of ETC,” an offer which I couldn’t refuse. The program at my school was only four years old at the time, and I was longing for a chance to collaborate with other like-minded teachers. As part of their original mission statement, one of ETC’s purposes was “to foster collegial collaboration among educators at all levels.” ETC certainly provided me with an opportunity for collegiality, and in addition, they provided tangible help packets of materials that could be used in the classroom. This service was also reflected in the mission statement “to disseminate teaching material appropriate to elementary curricula.” An order form for the 1988-89 Activity Packets for Classics Clubs appeared in Volume I, Number 2 of PRIMA. Of course I ordered a packet and was delighted to receive a set of pictures of the Olympians, a family tree, and activities to use with my classes. In the beginning, four separate small packets were distributed quarterly, one each in September, November, January, and March. Children were encouraged to submit activities and artwork that they had created.
In 1990, ETC offered the first National Mythology Exam for students in fourth through eighth grades, and registration was announced through a letter to “Club” members. This letter described the remaining packets for the 1989-90 school year and introduced members to the concept of the Myth Exam. At this point neither the packets nor the exam were thematic and subtests were limited to classical works.
For the 1991 exam, Myth Exam participants received a letter informing them that there would be one only packet this year and that the materials would be geared toward helping teachers prepare their students.
Third graders were invited to take the 1992 exam, and a subtest on African Myths subtest was added. New for 1993 was a subtest on Native Americans. The Classics Club Activity Packet now included materials on African and Native American Culture.
1994 brought a narrower focus for the literary subtests, a shorter bibliography of books from which exam questions would be written, and an invitation for ninth graders to take the exam. At this point, only D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths, and Alice Low’s Book of Greek Gods and Heroes were listed as sources along with specific books from specific translations of the Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid. And the narrower focus of this exam led the way to the thematic focus adopted shortly thereafter.
In 1995, the title “Classics Club Activities Packet” was dropped, and materials necessary to study for the first forty questions of the Olympics Myth Exam were printed in the packet. Thus, the packet and the exam were dependent upon one another.
A further revision of this concept occurred in 1996 and has continued until the present.
(1) A bibliography listing exact pages for students to read from one source, D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths, was provided, and a direct correlation was made between many activities in the packet and the thematic literature in the bibliography.
(2) Enrichment activities were still valued and included in the packet in addition to the activities geared directly to the exam.
(3) A conscious effort was made to include not only activities that appeal to elementary students but also activities appropriate for middle school students and 9th graders.
Once this new direction was determined, the ETC Board members sorted through all of the old packets and created two generic packets for basic information about mythologyone for primary students and one for intermediate students. Ever since the overhaul of the original packets in 1996, the activity packet has reflected the theme of the myth exam and has provided activities tied to the exam and extension activities. Thus has evolved our theme-driven teacher-friendly packets.
