Some years ago when I was studying philosophy, I was required also to study Latin. I didn’t want to and I resented it; however, I spent two years memorizing Latin. My attitude was very shortsighted. Years later as a parish priest, I was extremely grateful because I was able to read the old marriage and baptismal records that were written in Latin.

     Some years ago, public school teachers decided that it was no longer useful to learn cursive handwriting because the entire world would be on computers and cursive would no longer be relevant. But such a viewpoint was very shortsighted. Personally, without a knowledge of cursive, I would never have been able to complete my graduate degrees because I had to be able to read primary source material in cursive.

     At Good Shepherd Catholic School, we teach our students to learn cursive so that one day they can pursue graduate studies and read documents in the original handwriting, or read the love letters their great grandparents wrote to each other in cursive, or even read the Constitution of the United States in cursive. At Good Shepherd we prepare minds for the future by understanding the writings of the past.

Written By: Father Lance W. Harlow

Date Published: September 8, 2023