Laurel Ciofrone

Mr. MacFarline, the HBHS Latin Teacher, stands preparing to teach a class. He is very dedicated to his work and is a great teacher, but unfortunately, he doesn’t have a CAVBlock this year. He says CAVBlocks are great because, “I’m a very good learner one on one with somebody, like if I can have them sit down and just kind of explain it to me, especially if it’s a difficult concept.”

Latin, a dying language, is now being taught at three different levels at Hollis Brookline High School (HBHS). With class time being limited, CAVBlocks are desperately needed. Only, Mr. MacFarline doesn’t have a CavBlock this year, even though he is the only Latin teacher, and therefore, the only certified person in the school who can help those in need with Latin.

Many teachers throughout HBHS have CavBlocks as they are extremely helpful to many students. They provide a safe place to do homework, meet with teachers or just hang out with friends. However this year, not every teacher has a CAVBlock; instead, some teachers are assigned to a study hall. This was the unfortunate fate that hit Mr. MacFarline, the school’s only Latin teacher. 

This is a massive setback for many students, especially considering that Mr. MacFarline now has two Latin I classes and one Latin II class. Both levels of students could utilize the extra help. “It [CavBlock] would be helpful with what we are learning right now, personal pronouns,” said Latin II student Ail Pavel ’25. Latin I student added that a CavBlock would help with, “mainly just that extreme stuff, like the pronunciation of words and asking him questions,” said Max Frankel ‘26.

But what about before and after school hours? Why can’t students just meet with Mr. MacFarline then? Well, currently his only outside-of-school hours are from 7:25 to 7:40 in the morning and from 2:30 to 2:45 in the afternoon. Unfortunately, these hours are not accessible for many students. Lots of freshmen and sophomores take the bus in the morning and afternoon, and some juniors and seniors have to work right after school. “It’s difficult because I teach a lot of juniors and seniors and most will have jobs,” said HBHS Latin teacher Mr. MacFarline. This, combined with the lack of Latin CAVBlocks makes learning this difficult language much harder than it usually would be in past years. 

But what can the student body of HBHS do about this? At the moment, Latin students can meet up with Mr. MacFarline after or before school if needed. Besides that, there is nothing else the student body can do. This is unfortunate because CavBlocks are a great way for students to learn new and hard information they didn’t understand the first time.