Director
Nikki Carroll
she/her 

Dr. Nikki Carroll is a Latin teacher at Collegiate School in Richmond, VA. She earned her B.A. in Latin and Education from Randolph-Macon College, her M.Ed. in Latin from the University of North Carolina – Greensboro, and her Ed.D. in K-12 Leadership from the College of William and Mary. This will be her thirteenth year being involved with the Latin Academy: she was a student in 2005, an RA in 2008, a teacher from 2012-2014, lead teacher from 2015-2019, and director from 2020-2021. She is thrilled to be returning to the Latin Academy staff this summer! Her favorite Latin author by far is Ovid, though she also enjoys Plautus, Vergil, and Seneca the Younger. Outside of teaching, you’ll find her hanging out with her dogs (Pot Roast and Rosemary), lifting weights, or watching horror movies, reality competition shows, and documentaries.

Lead Teacher 
Lexi Harrell 
she/her 
Class:  Stylus Amicitiae

Lexi Harrell earned her B.A. in Latin and Classics from Randolph-Macon College. This is her fourth year with the academy after being a student in MMXVII, serving as an RA/TA in MMXX, and as a teacher in MMXXIV. She currently teaches Latin I-AP at Clover Hill High School in Chesterfield County where she also sponsors her school’s Latin Club, Latin Honor Society, and a Freshman Mentor Program. Lexi is enthusiastically intrigued by Latin Grammar as well as Bronze Age Greece and portrayals of Greece by the Roman Empire. When she isn’t identifying sub-oblique and jussive-noun clauses, she enjoys reading fantasy novels, listening to DnD podcasts, and doing paint-by-numbers.

Teacher 
Olivia Koshute 
she/her 
Class: Vōcēs Fēminārum

Olivia Koshute earned her B.A. in Classics and English from the University of Virginia in 2023. In the 2023-2024 school year she taught Latin at South Lakes High School in Fairfax County, VA. In May 2026 she earned her M.A. in Classics from the University of Kentucky. In the fall she will continue her studies at the University of Kentucky to earn her  M.A. in Teaching World Languages. She is excited to return for her sixth summer at the Latin Academy after previously attending as a student, Lead RA, and teacher. Her classical interests include women and gender in antiquity, mythology, and North Africa in classical antiquity. Some of her favorite Latin authors are Sulpicia, Vergil, and Ovid. Aside from Classics, Olivia also loves theater, playing violin, soccer, and geeking over animated shows.

Teacher 
Benji Hess 
he/him 
Class: τὰ μεγάλα Διονύσια (Ancient Greek)

Benji Hess has a BA from Washington and Lee University in Classics with Art History and Archaeology, a Post-Bacc in Classical Languages and Archaeology with German from College Year in Athens, and will soon be beginning his PhD in Classical Studies at Boston University. Currently, Benji is teaching abroad for Fulbright Austria. His research interests include the pastoral mode, comparative literature (German and Swedish), and reception studies. Hiking and finding new music take up all of Benji's free time—any fans of Appalachian folk? 🙂 He can't wait to join you as the Greek teacher for his fourth summer with GLA!   

Teacher 
Joseph Amsbary 
he/him 
Class: Stoica Doctrina

Joseph Amsbary earned his B.A. in Classical Studies and Psychology from William & Mary in 2024 and just completed an MAT in Latin and Classical Humanities at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He will begin teaching at Washington Latin starting this fall. This will be Joseph’s fourth summer at Academy, having previously attended as a student in 2019 and an RA in 2023 and 2025. His main interests in the Classics surround using ancient society to better understand the modern world, with a growing curiosity in ancient philosophy. Outside of the classroom, Joseph enjoys hiking, ultimate frisbee, board games, and politics. 

 

Teacher 
John Burgess 
he/him 
Class: Latina Loquenda

John Burgess grew up in Massachusetts and earned his B.A. in Classical Languages at Haverford College in Pennsylvania in 2020.  During the spring semester of his junior year, he attended Duke University’s Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome, west of the Tiber.  Since college, he has worked at the Nysmith School in Herndon, Virginia, where he teaches middle school, despite not having started Latin until high school himself.  With an interest in art history, he has given unofficial tours of the medieval artifacts at the Bishop’s Garden in Washington, D.C.  Throughout the school year, he hosts a running club twice a week.  One of four siblings, he is ironically the only one without a classical name.

 

Lead RA 
Laura Church 
she/her 
Elective: Zoology in the Ancient World

Laura Church is a Classical Studies student at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Laura is returning to GLA as an RA for a third year after attending as a student in MMXXII. Laura has spent two years volunteering as a teacher in the Literacy Through Latin program which helps bring Latin and Classics to public schools in the communities of Edinburgh. Laura is particularly interested in natural hazards/disasters from the ancient world, as well as the ecology and the lasting environmental effects. Independent of her studies, Laura loves spending time outdoors and really enjoys taking advantage of Edinburgh’s proximity to historic sites like Hadrian’s Wall and London Mithraeum!

RA 
Sofia Olivares 
she/her 
Elective: Alea Iacta Est! (a.k.a. Ancient Board Games)

Sofia Olivares earned her B.A. in Classical Studies from Hollins University in 2025 and is currently writing her M.A. in Classics at King’s College London. Her research interests include the roles of women in Greek tragedy, classical reception in Latin America, and depictions of Persephone in Magna Graecia. She is thrilled to return for her third year with GLA after being a student in MMXIX and RA in MMXXIV. When she’s not translating Latin or Ancient Greek, Sofia loves to go on long walks, hang out with her cat, buy overpriced lattes, and curl up with her Kindle.  

 

RA
Otto Saphir
he/him

Otto Saphir is currently majoring in Greek and Roman Studies at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. This is his first year at GLA, but he spent the 2024-2025 year serving as consul for his high school’s Latin club with the goal of spreading the love of Latin and all things ancient. Otto’s ancient interests include Latin lyric poetry, especially that of Catullus, literary evidence of orality, such as in the epics of Homer, and the role of religion in the Roman mind. Outside of the Greco-Roman sphere, Otto plays Dungeons and Dragons and Magic: the Gathering, reads a lot of fantasy novels, and plays the piano and pipe organ.