Riverbend is overflowing with extraordinary teachers. They are reliable, welcoming, and knowledgeable in their profession. Among them is Latin teacher Mr. Keith, who received the David Cox FLAVA Award. The award recognizes foreign language teachers in Virginia, grades kindergarten through twelfth grade, who have demonstrated excellence in the foreign languages.

Mr. Keith never expected to win such a prestigious award and was very excited when he was notified. In addition to teaching Latin I-AP, he is also co-chair of the National Latin Exam since 2001 and has served on its Steering and Writing Committee since 1999.  Keith states that the most challenging part of participating in this committee is forming an exam that classrooms across the nation will find acceptable. He says that students come from many different backgrounds in terms of their Latin education, and it can be a challenge to draft an exam that meets all of their needs.

Despite his participation in the committee, Mr. Keith does not change his teaching style to teach to the test and does not necessarily feel his students are at an advantage for his involvement in the exam. In FLAVA’s article on Mr. Keith’s achievement, a former student states, “In every person’s life, there is always one teacher they looked up to and idolized. For me, it has always been Mr. Keith. Having him as a teacher is what convinced me that I wanted to be a Latin teacher myself.”

“I loved the ancient world and continued with what I like,” Mr. Keith said about becoming a Latin teacher. Mr. Keith sets the bar high for his students and has them meet that bar, helping them along the way because they “can’t be successful if [they] don’t enjoy it.”

“Gratulatum” to Mr. Keith on his teaching achievement!