A recent article in the Sentinel (Aurora, CO) reports that, "The ancient language [Latin] isn’t spoken much anywhere in the world these days and seldom used by the Roman Catholic Church anymore. But in schools across the country, the language is catching on with a new generation of students drawn to the language that experts say is the basis for the Romance languages and is still the language of science and the law."

"Latin makes a comeback when people say, ‘We need to get back to strong educational basics, strong fundamentals,’ said Rebecca Jessup, a Latin teacher at Cherokee Trail High School in southeast Aurora, one of three high schools in Aurora that offer the ancient language."

The 135,000 students who took the National Latin Exam this year was up dramatically from 1977, when the exam started with 6,000 students. The number has steadily risen in recent years, according to the New York Times, with 101,000 taking the exam in 1998 and 124,000 in 2003.

The 7th and 8th Grade students will be among the number that take the 2009 National Latin Exam.