I haven’t updated for a while, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy! You can see on my CV some of the new volunteer opportunities I’ve been undertaking, but also I have been receiving tutoring in American Sign Language! It’s a lot of fun, and I am learning a lot. Currently I am looking for work either local to the Rochester, NY area or remotely.

After having earned my Bachelor’s degree from the University at Albany (State University of New York) but before I started work on my first Masters degree from Saint John Fisher College, I took two semesters of classes in American Sign Language from Monroe Community College. I recently found the video of my final project for ASL 102 (which I took in spring 2006). It’s a telling of the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Even though it’s been so many years since I’ve taken the class, I still recognize the Signs I used – and some of the mistakes that I made! Maybe someday I’ll take classes in ASL again.

For a while now I have been a little annoyed that my copy of the first assignment listed in my student portfolio was a draft. I have finally found the master copy and have updated it here! Some more updates will be likely coming in the next few days. Thanks for your patience!

Allow me to wish you a belated happy 2021. I hope your year has been getting off to a good start.

Since my temporary position with Ganondagan State Historic Site has come to its conclusion, I am volunteering while looking for long-term employment. In January I began volunteering at the Rochester Military History Society‘s museum and library. It’s a hidden gem in Rochester, NY which focuses on not only local heroes from various wars going back to the War of 1812, but also how local businesses have joined the war effort over the years. It has been very enjoyable thus far, and I look forward to continuing to help them.

In other news, I have begun to query journals for my paper on an Indigenous American cataloging scheme for libraries. I hope that I will be able to update you soon with someone who has chosen to publish it, but I will keep you apprised one way or the other.

When your office is regularly cold, you have a short hairdo, and everyone is wearing masks, you end up looking a bit like a video game villain! Taking a brief break from cataloging to take this silly picture. Remember, today is Election Day, so if you haven’t already, get out there and vote!

A lot has happened since I last updated this little blog. The most exciting thing to have happened is that I’ve been hired at Ganondagan State Historic Site, where I am continuing the work I did as an intern and a volunteer. We are much closer to having the archives in order, and I have the beginnings of a rough draft for an article about the process. It’s my hope to pursue publication of the paper by 2021.

Speaking of 2021, I know 2020 has been difficult for a lot of people and has a lot of people waiting for the year to turn. I hope you all are remembering to take time for yourselves, no matter what the calendar says.

Wednesday July 8, 2020 I returned to Ganondagan State Historic Site, no longer as a library intern but now as a librarian volunteer. Due to COVID things will look a little different: We are all wearing masks, socially distancing ourselves, and hand sanitizers abound, but what remains the same is the good company and good work to be done to educate the community. I will be continuing the work I began in my internship establishing a catalog in the archives. I will be working twice a week to add to the catalog/inventory. With permission from my supervisor, I also recently made public the archives’ Library Thing, a project which I began work on back in March. Since I had been an intern in the winter, it was nice to pull up and see the welcome sign not covered in snow.

On a personal note, yesterday (July 9, 2020) marked the tenth Piperversary. “What’s a Piperversary?” you may ask. Well, that is what we call the anniversary of when we adopted our little rescue dog, Piper! When she was around five-years old, she came traipsing into our apartment and she liked it so much that she never left. In some ways you can see her age – she is much slower, grayer, and has fewer teeth than she did back then – but for fifteen-years old, she is still quite a lovebug and adores people. But as you can see, she was not too excited about the news that she had been with us for ten whole years:

In a few hours I’ll be teaching another Latin for Beginners class. My classes are never big, but the people who attend are always engaged and eager to learn. It makes my job easier for sure, and I appreciate everyone who shows up.

The job search continues. Would you like to work with me? Email me at alexis_kantor[AT]yahoo[DOT]com.

Signing off for now – and remember, wear your masks!

The Homeschool Cooperative 2020 was featured on NPR!

Also, to see me describe how I became involved, I made a video:

This article will tell you a little more about the Homeschool Cooperative, which is who I teach through.

EDIT 7/10/2020 – This page can now be found under the heading Latin for Beginners.

There was a little stumbling to start, but Latin for Beginners is well underway. It will be continuing at least through the end of June; May 29th class is canceled, but it will be resuming the following week.

If you are interested in what I have been teaching, here are the presentations I have been giving. All presentations were made originally in PowerPoint; they have been converted into Google Slides for the sake of being able to share them. There is some additional information not included on the slides that was filled in during live sessions. I do not record my classes since many of my students are under the age of 18, and I do not wish to violate their rights to privacy.

Please note: although the classes are advertised to “high school students,” I have students ranging from middle school to adults. If you are interested, please feel free to sign up for a class!

If you are interested in learning greater detail on any of the topics (or if you believe you have spotted a mistake in my Latin grammar – I am human, after all), please feel free to email me (alexis_kantor[AT]yahoo[DOT]com) with the subject line “Latin for Beginners.”

Lesson I: First declension and mythology basics

Lesson II: Second declension and the founding of Rome

Lesson III: Verbs and Prometheus and Pandora

Lesson IV: Third declension and gladiators

Lesson V: Question words and myths on love/loss

Lesson VI: Review of question words and slavery in ancient Rome