Traveling Back to Ancient Times

%E2%80%9CDelphi+is+definitely+my+favorite+site+to+teach+because+it%E2%80%99s+so+beautiful+and+there+are+a+lot+of+buildings%2C+a+track%2C+a+theatre%2C+and+art.+If+you+want+to+go+to+a+Greek+site%2C+I+definitely+recommend+this+one.+It+was+like+the+Greeks%E2%80%99+holy+land+so+there%E2%80%99s+definitely+a+mystical+feeling+in+the+air%2C%E2%80%9D+said+Yeakel.

“Delphi is definitely my favorite site to teach because it’s so beautiful and there are a lot of buildings, a track, a theatre, and art. If you want to go to a Greek site, I definitely recommend this one. It was like the Greeks’ holy land so there’s definitely a mystical feeling in the air,” said Yeakel.

Dominicque Pacella, Writing Coach

Yeakel’s new electives Ancient Greek and Roman Civilization Honors Make the Impossible Possible

Ancient Greek Civilization and Ancient Rome Civilization Honors are two brand new semester electives that Bolles implanted into its curriculum this present 2016-2017 school year that allow students to travel in time in more than one way.

Instead of the typical “read textbook, take test, and repeat” class, Dr. Jeff Yeakel formatted both electives in a way that would allow students to directly read, analyze, and create their own conclusions about primary documents and sources dating back thousands of years ago.

“The whole idea behind the classes was to answer one question: ‘How do we know what we know about this civilization’s history?’  To answer this, I wanted to make it as interactive and project-based as possible where students can pick specific areas of two cultures that they were interested in and research those interests in depth by getting face-to-face with the civilization’s primary sources.  It is a more specialized and individual type of education,” said Yeakel.

Students not only craft video presentations on subjects ranging from archaeology, athletics, ancient Greek religion, to ancient Greek daily life, but also compose their own 1,000 to 1,500 word research papers on such topics.

“The first research paper we had due forced students to examine ancient Greek daily life. This topic was broad enough to allow students to choose from a variety of topics such as: slavery, women’s role in Greek society, the political process, law, etc. However, the topic also let students hone down a specific part of daily life that they were interested in,” said Yeakel.

Natalia Bermudez-Smith (’17), a student enrolled in Ancient Greek Civilization Honors, stated that the course feels like you are “diving right into Ancient Greece” due to Yeakel’s teaching approach.

“I love reading directly from the primary sources because you get to experience the way a person from the past thought and had knowledge on the subjects that they write about. Definitely reading primary sources takes you back in time to experience their way of life and culture, and plus you do not have to lug around a heavy book,” said Bermudez-Smith.

Although Yeakel’s pupils travel back in time when they look at primary sources such as written text and art, Yeakel also provides his students with a taste of the future.

“Rather than handing them a pool of facts that they need to know, I let them get straight to the sources and research, write and accumulate information at a college level. So, in a way it’s kind of a college preparatory class. It’s important to me to give student first-hand contact with primary sources analysis to prepare them for college,” said Yeakel.

In addition to Yeakel’s extensive knowledge in ancient Greek and Latin languages and culture, the course instructor further prepared himself for teaching Ancient Greek Civilization Honors by traveling to Greece during the summer.

“I traveled all over Greece and I based my itinerary on the class’s topics. I was in Greece for about two weeks and went to many places such as Athens, Mycenae, Olympia, Sparta, the Cyclades Islands, and Delphi. The class’s philosophy revolves around the projects and video assignments. I filmed videos while I was at each archeological site and for homework students watch them on Schoology according to the unit we are on.

Yeakel continued, “Again, I wanted to connect students first hand with the ancient evidence. Just having a textbook tell you what to think is not as impactful compared to looking at actual pieces of history.”