In the hustle and bustle of school beginning, there was one teacher absent for returning Latin students. Kerrie Miksch, McNeil’s long time Latin teacher, retired leaving students feeling sad and frustrated. Miksch, who had worked on the campus since the school’s opening, held many different positions including math and Latin teacher and had become a symbol of the Latin department.

That’s where Keely Drummond comes in. Drummond is the new Latin teacher and is here to spread the joy of the language. She will teach all levels, from the wide-eyed Latin I students to the knowledgeable AP Latin IV students.

She saw the job posting on a board for the Texas Classical Association and thought the position sounded promising.

 Drummond got her start in Latin after taking Spanish and French in high school and college. Spanish and French were fun, but once she got a taste of Latin she was immediately hooked

“It just made all the other languages make sense,” Drummond said.

In her free time, Drummond works as an archivist at the National Archive of the Episcopal Church, whose headquarters are in Austin. This means anytime new historical objects are donated or found that pertain to the church, she works to catalog them.

“It’s a lot of work with old, dusty things,” Drummond said, as her eyes lit up. “But sometimes we get something really cool like a diary.

Overall, she was nervous to start at McNeil.

“After the first day, my anxiety melted away,” Drummond said

A few students expressed their sadness over Miksch leaving but look forward to getting to know a new teacher.

“I loved Ms. Miksch,” Rachel Scruggs said. “But I’m always up for a new challenge.”