Latin teacher Mr. Brian Gross has been named the 2020 Indiana Classical Conference Secondary Teacher of the Year. The award is given to those who make a positive impact on students and others in the Indiana Classical Community.

Before he became a member of the faculty, Gross tutored at Cathedral. After five years of exclusively teaching Latin, Gross, who attended Butler University and obtained a master’s degree in effective teaching and leadership, took on the role of the director the Language Support Program after the former director retired.

Mr. John Streiff, who also teaches Latin and who nominated Gross for the award, said that along with directing the Language Support Program for the school, his colleague “uses Latin to help kids struggling with dyslexia, ADHD and other learning disabilities to cope and excel in the classroom.”

The Indiana Classical Community is an organization primarily made up of Greek and Latin teachers that promotes and celebrates the classical world of language and education and recognizes those who impact the field.

Gross, who is in his seventh year at Cathedral and his second as the director of the Language Support Program, noted that he is a past president of the ICC organization. He said, “Latin is a really fun class to teach students, and you can help them not only learn the language, but the vocabulary and grammar and the history and culture.”

Gross said, “Not a lot a lot of teachers at the high school level get to teach a class that hits so many different topics, which is a lot of fun.”