'Magistra Brewer' completing busy period

From honors to community service work

May 27, 2022

It has been an eventful time for “Magistra Brewer” at Culver Academies.

Earlier in the spring, Latin instructor Ashley Brewer was honored by the Indiana Classical Conference. Brewer, who teach the third- and fourth-year levels, was named the 2022 Teacher of the Year at the secondary school level. She was presented the award by fellow instructor Evan Dutmer, who teaches the first- and second-year classes. He was named the top newcomer in 2020.

Earlier this month, the Culver Academies’ Latin Club, which Brewer and Dutmer co-sponsor, conducted its first community outreach program for local elementary students. Brewer said they are planning to make the classroom an annual event. Brewer and Dutmer worked with club members to simulate an ancient Roman schoolroom at the Culver Public Library. It was the first community outreach project sponsored by the club and was funded in part by a Pedagogy Award from the Society for Classical Studies.

Club members took the enrolled second through fifth graders through several stations, helping them to read age-appropriate picture books written in Latin, play counting games using Roman numerals, and writing on wax tablets. There was also a large mural of the Colosseum on the wall as a backdrop so the children could pose for photos. Dutmer applied for the grant that funded the purchase of the books, bone dice, wax tablets, and papyrus paper.

Last fall, Brewer invited Laura Ricketts of the Huffington Library show students how to spin yarn from wool like the Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians.

This follows a busy pandemic period during which Brewer, who is in year sixth year at Culver and 15^th year teaching overall, assisted Olivia Ma ’22 (Shanghai) in turning her Honors in Latin project into a published novella now available on Amazon. That made Ma the first student author in Culver Academies history.

“I was still in China taking online classes when I first wrote the book in the first two terms of my junior year,” Ma explained. “I zoomed with Ms. Brewer a few times a week consistently to go over my ideas, drafts, and progress.”

Brewer and Ma discussed how there is a misperception of the roles women played in ancient Rome, which has been obscured through the centuries. Brewer said the contributions of Roman women have purposely been skewed or left out of texts to justify the misogyny and devaluing of women through history.  

There are works available that discuss the roles of women in ancient Rome, Brewer said, but it takes extensive research to find them. With Brewer’s guidance, Ma did that research. “It really opened her eyes,” Brewer said.

For her senior practicum, Ma decided to write a novella about a Roman girl, Servilia, who travels to the present time and meets an American teen, Hannah, and tells her about the contributions of the women of ancient Rome.

Entitled “Hannah et Servilia: Contra Odium ad Feminas,” Ma wrote the story, found a friend, Yitong Cai, to illustrate the book and Brewer proofread her work and made suggestions.

“It was also Ms. Brewer who told me after my Honors presentation that I should consider publishing my book on Amazon for more teachers to buy and use,” Ma said. “She has also been incredibly helpful in connecting me with published Latin novella authors and supporting me as I figured out the logistics of publishing the book.”

Geared toward second-year Latin students, the book officially went on sale May 19, 2021. The 65-page novella has since sold approximately 200 copies and has an international following. It has shipped to locations in the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Australia, France, and Canada.

“She was very thorough in her process,” Brewer said of Ma’s efforts. “It’s very admirable.”