Apr 10, 2025
Restoring the Humanities: An Education That’s Not For Dummies by Joseph Pearce at The Imaginative Conservative. It was a century ago that G.K. Chesterton prophesied that the “coming peril” was “standardization by a low standard”. Nowhere has this prophecy been proved more true than in the field of education…Taken together, Louis Markos’ “Passing the Torch” and Michael Ortner and Kimberly Begg’s “The Catholic School Playbook” provide invaluable assistance in navigating the turbulent educational waters of our troubled times. They are also a sign of hope and a source of encouragement, and so are the hundreds of newly founded classical academies that are springing up across the land from sea to shining sea. Read
The Conservative Vision of Education by Ryan Anderson, Ph.D. at The Heritage Foundation. Education is about formation. Forming a certain type of person. We all need formation, as none of us is born ready for freedom. Traditionally, the Liberal arts were not the Left-wing arts. Liberal was from the Latin libertas, for liberty, freedom. These were the arts that would make us free. Free from slavery to our passions and desires. Free from blind acquiescence to the spirit of the age. Free from whatever the latest fad or ideology happens to be. Read
St. Isidore Knew a Secret: If You Want to Be a Saint, Be a Student by Thomas Griffin at National Catholic Register. We must never halt on our journey of learning. The depths that we can reach in prayer are endless — and so are the depths of knowledge that we can attain. There’s a connection between becoming lifelong worshipers and lifelong learners — because God made everything. To know reality and to know the truth is to know him more profoundly. This allows us to always have our minds and hearts lifted to God, who is always present to us. For this reason, Isidore said, “If a man wants to be always in God’s company, he must pray regularly and read regularly. When we pray, we talk to God; when we read, God talks to us.” Read
4 Guidelines for Teaching Latin by Andrew J. Ellison at Cana Academy. Occasionally novice teachers alight upon brilliance, and mature schools with a solid tradition of Latinitas are to be admired, but more often than not schools fall short of what could be accomplished in the teaching of Latin. That disserves students and enervates the school’s classical culture. The study of Latin can be a dynamo of rigor, richness, and genuine philology—love of speech and reason. At the same time, there are a number of deadly mistakes to avoid. Let’s tackle the deadliest and reroute according to the best practices. Read
Government Action To Protect Kids Online Is Long Overdue | Opinion by Jared Hayden and Michael Toscano at Newsweek. Congress convened a hearing late last month to discuss the harms kids face online and what lawmakers can do to better protect them. On Wednesday, March 26, the witnesses who testified before House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade told the country in harrowing detail what, in its heart of hearts, Congress already knows: that growing up in the synthetic world of social media, online porn, smartphones, and now, AI friends and sexual relations, has devastated a generation. But will Congress finally do something about it? Read
Taking Back Childhood From Phones—Finally by Jon Haidt and Zach Rausch at After Babel. The Anxious Generation put into words, graphs, and metaphors what parents, teachers, pediatricians, and young people had felt for more than a decade: that smartphones, social media, and video games were pulling children out of the real world and transporting them someplace strange, inhumane, and harmful…The book framed the situation as a collective action problem from which we could escape, but only if we do it collectively. The escape route? Four simple norms for collective action. Read
Passing the Point of Resistance by Clare Morell at Commonplace. School bans on the use of cellphones during the day—which have now been implemented in schools and districts in at least 14 states—are one type of recent catalyst that have effectively changed students’ and parents’ minds. A similar pattern has emerged throughout different states, different districts, and even different kinds of schools: a reaction of initial resistance to the announcement of the ban, the school pushing through the point of resistance to implement the ban, and eventually the students and parents embracing and appreciating the prohibition. Other states and communities can learn from these experiences how to better change the minds of the families in their care. Read
‘The King of Kings’ Captivates Theaters with the Heart of the Gospel—for Kids by Matthew Becklo at Word on Fire. The King of Kings, a new Angel Studios release hitting theaters nationwide on April 11, is being promoted as the first major animated biblical film since 1998’s The Prince of Egypt. Like its predecessor, it boasts an all-star cast: Oscar Isaac plays the role of Jesus, with Kenneth Branagh, Uma Thurman, Mark Hamill, Pierce Brosnan, Forest Whitaker, and Ben Kingsley all voicing supporting roles. It’s certainly an impressive effort with some dazzling moments—a very solid film, overall, especially as it draws children right into the very heart of the Gospel message without compromising its essence. Read
A Short Guide to the Purposeful College Decision by Alvaro de Vicente at The Heights Forum. Attending college is not an unqualified good. In fact, college poses many dangers. At its best, it offers opportunities to grow intellectually and prepare oneself professionally, but it also presents temptations to laziness and hedonism. Professors demanding too little of students—through practices such as grade inflation, leniency with missing or late assignments, and so on—encourages mediocre work. The abundance of free time and the lack of obligations easily devolves into selfish pleasure-seeking… To counteract these dangers, parents and teachers ought to help their boys approach the college decision purposefully. Read
At Harvard, Scott Hahn Expounds Upon Humility, Saving Truth of God’s Word by Scarlett Rose Ford at National Catholic Register. Professor Scott Hahn on Friday, April 4, spoke to Harvard’s Catholic Church, St. Paul’s, about the saving truth of Scripture…Hahn said his hope for the lecture — and his main prayer request in anticipation of the event — was to build bridges. “In an intellectual community as high-powered as Harvard, you have many gifted people from a wide range of backgrounds,” he said. His goal was to have the truth of Scripture resonate with each person, regardless of their background, education or faith tradition. Read
Kentucky Program Launches $100 Million Campaign for Catholic School Tuition by Kate Quiñones at Catholic News Agency. A Catholic scholarship program in the Archdiocese of Louisville, Kentucky, that has spent decades providing tuition support for families who want to send their children to Catholic schools is now setting its sights on future generations. Catholic Education Foundation (CEF) president Richard Lechleiter recently told CNA that he plans to make the organization last for generations by growing its resources through a $100 million capital campaign — the largest campaign in the history of the archdiocese. Read
Throwback Thursday
Jeremy Tate and Catholic Leaders at the University of Navarra by Jeremy Tate at Anchored Podcast on January 10, 2023. On this special episode of Anchored, Jeremy visits the University of Navarra with prominent leaders in the Catholic educational renewal movement. Sean Maltbie, Headmaster of Sacred Heart Academy in Grand Rapids, MI; Oscar Ortiz, Principal of Nolan Catholic High School in Fort Worth, TX; Brinton Smith, Superintendent of Schools for the Diocese of Fort Worth; Elias Moo, Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of Denver; and Chris Weir, President of Servite High School in Anaheim, CA, engage in a lively discussion covering the faithful Catholic identity of the University of Navarra, the importance of fostering Christian culture through education, and steps that school leaders can take to nurture the faith life of students. Listen