Normally I wouldn't put family news in this blog, but this relevant item appeared in my daughters' school newsletter:
2010 National Mythology ExaminationEarlier this year, over 100 students in Years 4–10 participated in the 20th annual National Mythology Examination, along with over 10,000 others from the USA, Canada and Australia. This exam tested knowledge about Greek and Roman classical myths as well as Virgil’s Aeneid. Their outstanding results have been worth the wait...
What a brilliant idea! I'd never heard of it before. The National Mythology Exam is the brainchild of the American Classical League, whose motto is Excellence Through Classics. Their stated goal is to promote classics in elementary and middle schools, and introductory classics courses.
The school's results were indeed outstanding, but I won't repeat it all except for this bit at the end:
The talented students in Years 4–7 deserve special congratulations, because they participated quite voluntarily in the examination, giving up their own free time to study for it.Most commendably, seven of these students gained a perfect score: Catriona Corby ...
I'd give the names of the other six with perfect scores except I don't have parent permission. I had no idea Catriona was doing this until she brought home the material to read. She did all the study on her own. So now you know my excuse for writing the post: I'm being a proud daddy.
And seriously, this means there are 10,000 kids out there who've read some classics, who otherwise might never have seen them. Top marks to the Classical League.