Long-time readers of rogueclassicism will know that one of my ongoing bugbears is the sorry state of Classical knowledge up here in the Great White North and the lack of general recognition of the value of such basic things as Latin. And so, it was with great dismay when Anna Norris brought to my attention the fact that a Latin program down the highway from me was facing cuts … here’s the incipit of an online petition for same:
On April 21, various grade 10 and 11 students at Waterloo Collegiate Institute were called down to the guidance office. They were dismayed to find that the Grade 11/12 Latin class for the 2011-2012 school year was cancelled due to the ‘small’ number of people signed up (15). The class has run with numbers like this before.
WCI is one of two schools in the Waterloo region to have a Latin Program. Next year, it will be the only school. What the students would love to do is continue to learn this language, and learn more about the fascinating culture and history that has greatly influenced modern society. However, their opportunity to do this has been jeopardized. The WCI Latin students are a passionate group of people that love the course. They want to continue their education in Latin.
… I’m sure these budding Latinists and Classicists could use some support from the Classics community at large; here’s where you can sign the petition:
[note that the particular petition site these folks are using asks for a donation; you do NOT have to donate for your signature to be recorded, as far as I can tell]
rogueclassicism 
Hi!
I’m one of the members of the Latin Program at WCI and we’d all like to say that we really appreciated you helping us out. It was really nice of you to post this, and I’m sure that a bunch more people sig…ned the petition because of this. That being said, I’m afraid that, as of Monday, the Latin class for next year has been cancelled and there is no way to bring it back. We’ve spoken to the principal and she explained that there was no way for us to run the course next year, but we hope that it will be up again for the 2012-2013 school year so we can continue to learn the amazing language and keep all of our amazing friends.
Thanks again for your support,
Bethany and the rest of the WCI Latin group