By Jax Bentley


Everytime I see Latin teacher Seth Hamel he greets me and says “salve” (the word that means hello in Latin) and I say salve back, and that shows me that we have a connection now. I know some Latin and he knows a lot, but it’s great to have something in common with a teacher. And that we are both new to the school makes it way better.
Jamauri Young ‘29  said, “Mr. Hamel is a great teacher.” He loves Hamel’s class because he teaches Latin well.
Hamel is an amazing teacher because he involves everyone by working in groups, having conversations about the Latin topic we are on, and making sure everyone is on track. Things like that shows the true connection he has with everyone he teaches and talks to.
He is also my advisor and study hall teacher, so we see each other a lot.
Hamel is the new Latin teacher. When I met him on the first day of school, he was so polite and said that if I find anything out I should tell him because we both shared that we are new to North Cross. From then on we have created a strong bond by talking to each other after class, talking to each other in Latin. He helps me with my work and more. Hamel has helped me so much even though it is only the first quarter of the year.
Hamel grew up in Woodbine, Maryland; however, he moved here to Roanoke from Belchertown, Massachusetts. He earned his masters degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.Hamel also went to Penn State for his bachelors degree. He goes to a summer camp called 4-H, a youth development program offering hands-on, experiential learning in a supportive, natural place to teach life skills and foster personal growth.
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​This summer I went to Camp Eagle for nine weeks – five full days a week – and it was my first time. My mom wanted me to take pictures even though I'm not allowed to have it. She still wanted a picture because she went there as a kid and wanted to see how it looked now. I had a lot of fun at Camp Eagle. I got to do a lot of activities including swimming, ziplining, tubing and playing paint ball. I went down this gigantic slide and I took the picture going up it but got my phone taken away after that and doing all those activities were all over the course of all nine weeks. It was not only about games, the main focus was about Christianity. Every day we went to the Haven, basically the church, where the leaders made all the announcements about the day and about the next coming weeks. I met some amazing people that I hope to see again next year. Even though it costs a lot of money to go here, I would recommend this to everyone because everyone is just so respectful and nice.