Jim Linos, Upper School Spanish teacher, will present "Spanish Grammar Made Simpler" at the Southern Conference On Language Teaching (SCOLT) in Memphis, Tenn., March 13-15.
Linos tapped as local expert for panel discussion on immigration
May 2, 2013
Jim Linos, chairman of Darlington's world languages department, was selected to participate in an Immigration Round Table Discussion on April 2 at Georgia Highlands College.
Darlington offers summer opportunity to study in Spain
January 8, 2013
Sophomores and juniors in Spanish 3 Honors and above have an exciting opportunity to spend June 2-22 studying abroad at Colegio Delibes in Salamanca, Spain. In return, and in addition to invaluable experiential living in the Spanish culture, participants will receive one-half credit of elective Spanish and a special note on their Darlington transcript.
Fifty-seven world language students from Darlington School attained national recognition for excellent performance on the 2012 National Spanish Examinations. Together, they earne4d one gold medal, three silver medals, six bronze medals and 47 honorable mentions.
Darlington families are invited to join Chairman of the World Languages Department and Upper School Spanish teacher Jim Linos on a nine-day spring break trip to Madrid and Paris March 6-14.
Darlington’s world languages department will introduce two new intermediate Spanish language courses in 2008-09, according to chairman Jim Linos. Both courses are open to students who have completed at least three years of Spanish. <br /><br />
“With these two courses, we will be able to allow students to continue their study of different cultures and their respective viewpoints and experiences without the demanding rigor of an AP test at the end of the course,” Linos said. “Many students want to continue Spanish, but do not wish to take AP or Honors courses. They simply want a way to maintain and increase their speaking and listening skills with the main focus not on grammar (although it will be taught), but rather on the content of communication.” <br /><br />
Contemporary Conversational Spanish will focus on day-to-day conversation. Eighty percent of the student’s grade will be based on oral and aural assessments. Students will strive to become conversationally competent in Spanish in a variety of real-life situations, ranging from Home Depot dilemmas to mission trip interactions. <br /><br />
“I’m very excited about the direction foreign language study is taking at Darlington,” said Kay Lowe, who will teach the class next year. “As an independent school, Darlington is afforded the opportunity to develop a course that not only follows national standards, but responds to the needs of today’s students. The course content will complement other disciplines as well by dealing with economics, persuasive and informative speaking, and vocabulary building.” <br /><br />
Turning Points in Latin American History is another new course with a cross-curricular focus. Students will be immersed in Latin America’s cultural background, while learning more about the historical events that have shaped this part of the world. The goal of this course is to enable student to competently speak and understand the language and values of Latin-American societies. Discussion topics will include colonization, revolutionary movements, ancient civilizations, and heroes and villains. Forty percent of the grade will be based on auditory and oral activities, while 60 percent is based on traditional assessment and project work. <br /><br />
“We are excited about the possible directions that these courses will take our students,” said Linos. “Further, we look forward to expanding the French program at the Middle School. We are already seeing a rapid growth in the study of French at Darlington with 19 students in French 1 this year. We are also looking to add a third language to our curriculum in the next two to three years as we continue to seek new ways to make our students better global citizens.”
Four-year varsity player and former captain <a href="https://www.darlingtonschool.org/10865">Alicia Wright (’07)</a> was so important to the team that Darlington’s volleyball program retired her No. 15 jersey during the Sept. 13 match against Adairsville. <br /><br />
"I was extremely honored and proud to see No. 15 retired; it's one of my most valued accomplishments," said Wright. "The Darlington volleyball program was such a huge part of my experience as a student. Being a player gave me the opportunity to push myself both physically and mentally, as well as compete with my friends next to me on the court ... Darlington volleyball is really something special."<br /><br />
A three-year varsity letter winner, Wright set 10 school records during her high school career, helped carry her team to four state playoff events, and was twice named Player of the Year by both the Rome News-Tribune and Area 6AA/A. She and her teammates also won the Area title for three consecutive years, earning Darlington a top 10 state ranking in AA/A.<br /><br />
“Alicia came in at a time when the volleyball program at Darlington experienced a rebirth and a growth in achievement and ability,” said head coach Jim Linos. “In her time here, she had numerous accomplishments, highlighted by two trips to the state quarterfinals and being named the first player in school history to record 1,000 kills. Because of these and her great leadership, knowledge, experience, dedication and commitment, we retire her No. 15 jersey forever.”<br /><br />
Wright was more than just a great volleyball player who set records on the court. She was also an honor student who helped Darlington’s volleyball program achieve national recognition four times by earning the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s Team Academic Achievement Award. <br /><br />
“We miss her greatly,” said Linos. “Alicia’s competitiveness, her fire, and her leadership have never gone unnoticed. She will forever walk this court and remain an invaluable member of the Darlington Volleyball Family.”<br /><br />
In addition to playing for Darlington’s varsity and junior varsity teams, Wright was also a founding member of the Middle School volleyball team in 2001-02. While her jersey was not officially retired by the School, the volleyball program has dedicated No. 15 in her honor and, therefore, will no longer assign it to future players. Wright is the daughter of Jacquelyn and Barry Wright III (’70) of Rome.
Thanks to the generosity of Darlington’s Parents Association, the world languages department is incorporating technology into its curriculum. Last year, 14 computers were funded by the parent group so that each language classroom could have its own mini language lab. This year, the department added two more for the AP classrooms.<br /><br />
“I believe the parents who contributed to these improvements truly understand the importance and the reality of the study of a second and/or third language,” said Jim Linos, department chairman. “They want their children to be citizens of the world, as well as citizens of their hometowns. They want their students to be more critically aware of the different environments that exist on the Earth around them and, more importantly, how to interact with the denizens of those surroundings in which they find themselves. In this way, the world community will grow closer and, hopefully, human relationships will grow stronger.”<br /><br />
According to Linos, the computers allow teachers to more easily and consistently asses and monitor the progress of students in the areas of listening and speaking. “Students can listen to native broadcasts and exchanges and record responses via attached headphones and a microphone,” he explained. “This technology allows us to provide a more authentic learning experience for our students. Through live or recorded presentations, our students are able to interpret and present authentic language whether it be spoken or written.”<br /><br />
Jacquelyn Wright, past president of the Parents Association, said she was happy to help when the world languages department approached her with the request. “One of the main goals of the Parents Association is to invest in projects that directly benefit the children. That is the criteria by which we measure requests,” she said. “We fund Faculty Grants because the teachers come back enthused with new information to optimize classroom learning. We fund dances because the students need a social outlet in addition to opportunities for learning. The language lab is obviously a direct benefit to the children and something we felt Darlington needed to put us on more even footing with other independent schools.”
Volleyball team earns fifth consecutive AVCA Academic Award
August 2, 2007
Darlington’s volleyball program is one of 303 recipients of the 2006-07 Game Plan/American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award. This is the fifth straight year the team has earned this distinction.<br /><br />
The award, initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors college and high school teams that displayed excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average on a 4.0 scale and a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale during the school year. Nominating head coaches must be AVCA members. <br /><br />
Recipients of the award range from NCAA Division I institutions to high school girls’ and boys’ teams. A total of 140 high schools boys and girls programs earned the award in 2006-07.<br /><br />
“The AVCA is again privileged to present the Game Plan/AVCA Team Academic Award to these outstanding institutions,” said Kathy DeBoer, AVCA executive director. “We congratulate the student-athletes for their hard work in the classroom and thank our coaches for instilling this dedication in the young women and men of our sport.”<br /><br />
Over 900 different schools have won the award in the program’s 15-year history, and over 2,500 awards have been given out. Each school will receive a plaque, and each player a certificate commemorating the designation.
Outstanding students and faculty recognized at Honors Day and Commencement
June 5, 2007
Upper School students and faculty members were recognized at Honors Day May 25 in Morris Chapel and the following day at Commencement. At Honors Day, Moser House was named winner of the 2006-07 Centennial Cup for school spirit.
