By William Croyle
Enquirer contributor

Sister Clarita Anneken instructs her Latin class at Villa Madonna Academy in Villa Hills. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

VILLA HILLS - Sister Clarita Anneken knows her Latin. And how to teach it. Just ask the Goderwis family.

Sister Clarita is teaching Latin I to the Goderwis twins at Villa Madonna Academy this year. Nathan and Josh, 14-year-old eighth-graders, are the third generation of the Goderwis family to pass through her classroom.

She is in her 63rd consecutive year of doing so. She taught Latin I and II at St. Henry High School to the twins' paternal grandmother, Pat Goderwis, from 1957 to 1959, and to their dad, Doug, from 1976 to 1978.

At 84, Sister Clarita is the oldest full-time teacher in the Diocese of Covington and believed to be the oldest Latin teacher in Greater Cincinnati.

She also teaches Latin II, III, IV and AP Latin.

LATIN IN SCHOOLS

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 655,000 public school students in grades 9-12 studied Latin in 1960, the highest total in the last 55 years. That number dropped to its lowest point - 150,000 - in 1976. In 2000, the number increased slightly to 177,000. Regional schools that offer Latin include: Cincinnati public Dater Fairfield Harrison Indian Hill (starting in grade 6) Lakota East Lakota West Madeira Mariemont (starting in junior high) Milford Purcell-Marian Sycamore High and junior high Walnut Hills Wyoming (starting in grade 7) Cincinnati private Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy (starting in middle school) Cincinnati Country Day Middle School Elder La Salle McAuley McNicholas Moeller Roger Bacon St. Ursula St. Xavier Seton Seven Hills (starting in middle school) Summit (starting in middle school) Ursuline Kentucky public Beechwood Conner Kentucky private Covington Latin Covington Catholic Notre Dame Academy St. Henry

"As long as my health and memory keep up, I'll keep teaching," said Sister Clarita, a member of the Order of the Benedictines. "I enjoy high school students. They keep you on your toes."

Sister Clarita was in the eighth grade at Holy Cross School in Latonia in 1931 when her teacher asked who was interested in becoming a nun. Her best friend, Roberta Schuering, raised her hand. Sister Clarita followed.

"I had thought about becoming a nun, but I was the quiet one," Sister Clarita said. "I don't think I'd have raised my hand if Roberta didn't."

She went to high school at Villa Madonna 1932-35, entered the convent as a novice in 1935, and took her first vows in 1937. She went to college at Villa Madonna College (now Thomas More) and majored in Latin.

She joined the faculty of St. Henry in 1941, where she taught Latin, English, algebra, geometry, French and typing.

"I remember her as being a very good teacher," said Pat Goderwis. "I remember the second year of Latin started with a different teacher - but we weren't doing as well as we had the year before with her, so she came back. And she seems as bright today as she was back then."

What does Doug Goderwis recall about her?

"Other than being the only teacher to ever give me a detention?" he recalled, laughing. "She was a great, enthusiastic teacher. She's 84 years old physiologically, but she's much, much younger. For my kids to be able to take Latin from Sister Clarita is a great opportunity."

One of her secrets: Keep learning about what you teach.

"She is a source of strength to the faculty and an inspiration to us all," said Pamela McQueen, principal of Villa Madonna. "Despite her age, she wants to learn everything she can about Latin."

Sister Clarita traveled to Athens, Ga., this past summer to take a weeklong Latin course. "I felt that I needed more instruction," she said.

And her students are the beneficiaries of her effort to fully understand the language of the ancient Romans.

But the class isn't one of those all-lecture, all-listening courses. Sister Clarita tries to make it interesting. She plays games, uses word searches and also has vocabulary contests among the students.

"She's really active and doesn't beat around the bush when she's teaching," said current student Nathan Goderwis. "You learn a lot in a short amount of time from her. It's challenging, but she makes it fun."