AbleMedia LLC

MEDFORD, MA - February 2, 2000 - The latest Latin heartthrob is Raymond M. Koehler, who sings the love songs of Catullus on the Classics Technology Center on the Web (CTCWeb, http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb). Koehler ("Raymondo" to his fans) is a Latin teacher at the Brunswick School, Greenwich, Connecticut. He is this week's AbleMedia Bronze Chalice winner for his submission of The Modern Student's Guide to Catullus. "He sings Catullus' poems in Latin to his own music and instrumentation. His students sing backup. You will listen to it again and again. Every Latin teacher should make this guide an essential part of their students' Latin learning experience," swooned Wendy E. Owens, CTCWeb Editor-in-Chief.

Koehler's guide brings the poems of Catullus and the Latin language to life through song and story, like a radio production, on CTCWeb. Koehler is pleased to have his lively Latin talents discovered. "Notice that The Modern Student's Guide to Catullus had been selected to receive the AbleMedia's Bronze Chalice Salute came as a bolt from the blue - I was thrilled," he said. "I can't wait to notify the students. We had always jokingly referred to what we did to further our own understanding of Catullus' poems as 'Latin resuscitation' - a dead language's equivalent to recitation in a modern language."

Available on CTCWeb are 19 recordings of Catullus' poems performed by Koehler and his students in both Latin and English. An explanation of each recording is included along with links to the Latin text and English translation of each poem. Links to other CTCWeb resources, including the Global Glossary, are also available. "Our greatest hope was that someday we'd be able to share what we did with others for use in their classrooms," Koehler said. "Alone, I was not able to make that happen in any meaningful way. Now, through the efforts of the staff at the Classics Technology Center, this dream is real. I cannot think of a greater service for teachers than this."

Spectacular Guide

"We are overjoyed that we have the opportunity to make this spectacular guide available to the Classics community worldwide," Owens said. "Students and educators everywhere now have this invaluable resource for the study of Latin and the poems of Catullus at their fingertips." The Modern Student's Guide to Catullus was performed at the 1992 annual Classical Association of New England meeting and at Vermont Latin Day in 1993. "Recording Catullus' poems as songs began as an effort to create with modern students the effect the originals may have had on Roman audiences," Koehler said. "The music successfully resuscitates a dead language, making it the focus for class discussion and communicating the spirit of Catullus' art through a medium students recognize."

Each week AbleOne’s sponsor, AbleMedia, salutes contributors for outstanding submissions to the AbleOne Consortium (http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/consortium/), the CTCWeb Showcase (http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/showcase/), and CTCWeb Netshots™ (http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/netshots.html). Each receives the Bronze Chalice award. AbleMedia awards Silver Chalices for the outstanding submissions of the month. At the end of each year, AbleMedia awards Gold Chalices for the outstanding submissions of the year.

AbleOne serves millions of educators, students, and other users in over 100 countries and the number of users is tripling annually. AbleOne’s CTCWeb is a repository of practical tools, for classicists and other educators, to enhance the use of computer technology in Classics education. At CTCWeb, students, educators and others find the free dissemination and open exchange of practical educational materials, systems, and applications by individuals and organizations involved in the Classics community. AbleMedia sponsors CTCWeb as part its AbleOne Education Network.

The AbleOne Education Network (AbleOne) is an online educational resource for millions of educators and students at the K-12 and post secondary levels around the globe. For seven years, AbleOne’s has used the Internet to provide quality teaching and learning materials to its rapidly growing corps of dedicated users: educators, students, and other curious minds worldwide. For more about AbleOne go to http://ablemedia.com/ableone.

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