A wet, misty Thursday morning with cooler temperatures did not dampen the spirits of our Latin students as they explored the classical language out in the real world. Their field trip to historic Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum with a private, docent-led walking tour was a wonderful place to study Western Architecture, including Classical and Egyptian Revival, and explore Latin inscriptions on some of the cemetery’s noted mausoleums and monuments.
Middle School Classics Teacher Natalie Griffin’s Latin 8 students were joined by Upper School Classic Teacher Gabe Grabarek’s AP Latin students, adding a cross-divisional flair to the outing. To prepare for their visit, Griffin gave her students a small lesson on classical architecture and then sent them on a scavenger hunt around the south campus to identify examples of this style prevalent at our own School.
The weather on Thursday lent a quiet, ethereal mood to the trip, and students enjoyed their walking tour and lunch in a specially-designated location in the cemetery. Bellefontaine is on the National Registry of Historic Places and is the final resting place of many significant people in and to St. Louis, including Missouri Governor William Clark of Lewis and Clark fame, William Greenleaf Eliot, the founder of our school, Adolphus Busch, and many other members of the Busch family. Suffragette Virginia Minor and Susan Blow, founder of the first kindergarten in the country here in St. Louis, are also interred at Bellefontaine.
What a unique way to explore this classical language that is alive and well at MICDS!