A poster reading "Latin didn't fall with Rome" hung in a room at the top of the stairs on Monmouth-Roseville High School's third floor.

A map of Rome hung on the wall underneath.

Five students sat in plastic chairs behind wooden desks looking over white papers that had been marked in red over black ink.

Brian Tibbets, a lean 32-year-old in black pants and a white- and red-striped shirt, leaned against his desk at the front of the room, going over answers from a quiz with the juniors in his Latin III class.

Tibbets took over the Latin program at Monmouth three years ago after it was saved by a petition from parents and students who supported the program. Now, 76 of the school's 550 students are enrolled in the program.

Saving Latin

In 1999, there were only six freshman enrolled in the Latin program at Monmouth High School. The school board was ready to close the program, but several parents and students did not want to see it go.

"We begged for one more year," said Christine Ayers, a mother three, all of whom have taken Latin in Monmouth.

Ayers and a group of other parents created a plan to educate other students about the benefits of Latin. They presented the plan to the school board members, who agreed to give them time to make the program a success. But, if participation in the program did not increase to more than 10 new students the following year, Latin would no longer be taught in Monmouth.

To spread the word about Latin, Ayers and the parents created the Classics Bee, a spelling bee-formatted competition for fifth- through eighth-graders.

"We wanted to show the younger students that Latin isn't very far away from us," Ayers said.

The bee served its purpose, and now 40 new students will join the program.

Ayers also credits the program's success to Tibbets, who joined the Monmouth High School staff in 2003.

"He's really an incredible teacher," Ayers said. "He brings a new energy to the program."

Under Tibbets' direction, the program has seen a turnaround. Before the program was saved, there were only 35 students enrolled in Latin. The program has more than doubled in size in three years and now 76 of the 550 students at the high school - or 14 percent of the student body - are enrolled in the Latin program. Galesburg High School has only 45 students enrolled in its Latin program.

Monmouth-Roseville has no language requirement, but most students are encouraged to take a foreign language in high school to meet college entrance requirements. Monmouth-Roseville offers two foreign languages: Spanish and Latin.

The benefits of Latin

Another poster hanging on the gray walls in Tibbets' classroom shows an open dictionary with 52.5 percent of the words on the pages highlighted in blue. This demonstrates the percentage of English words that come from Latin roots.

Ayers believes in the benefits of Latin for students.

"The drive is to have a better handle on the English language," Ayers said. "It also helps with thinking on your feet. You have to analyze a Latin sentence, you don't just read it."

To help make Latin understandable for his students, Tibbets uses modern-day examples.

"I try to equate specific aspects of Roman history with things that my students can understand today," he said.

For example, in Tibbets' classroom he explained the legend of Nero's Domus Aurea (Golden House), a lavish compound that the Roman Emperor built himself with taxpayer money after the Great Fire of Rome. Tibbets equated the palace with the over-the-top celebrity homes on the MTV show "Cribs." The students laughed at the example, but they understood the comparison.

The Latin class also takes the modern comparisons to the younger students when they hold the Classics Bee, using examples from the Harry Potter series to make Latin more accessible for a younger audience.

Rising in popularity

Parents and teachers are not the only ones who realize the benefits of Latin. Monmouth-Roseville senior Caroline Prince wants to pursue a career in medicine and says Latin has been helpful to her vocabulary.

Senior Matt McGuire agrees, citing Latin's usefulness in his human anatomy class.

"You learn more than just the language," he said. "Learning about myths and Roman history is the most interesting part."

Other students said their interest in Latin was really a disinterest in taking Spanish. Senior Chelsie Young said Latin has helped her with English and science classes and on standardized tests.

"The school is more Spanish oriented," senior Jenna Thompson said. "But Latin has become more popular since we've been here."

In the four years since these seniors began taking Latin, the program has jumped from 12 students enrolled in Latin I to 40 who will take the class next fall. The seniors attributed the increase in popularity to the Classics Bee and a rising awareness about the benefits among students.

Latin is popular in larger high schools across the country, but Monmouth-Roseville and Galesburg are the only schools in the area that offer programs.

"I think there is a place in the curriculum for Latin in any high school," Tibbets said. "It can open high school students to a different view of their world. There is such a connection between our culture and what we learn in Latin class."