This week on HeightsCast we feature Tom Cox, Upper School Latin teacher and one of the architects of the Core Humanities Sequence. In the Episode, Tom explains what epic poetry is, where it fits into our curriculum, and why we teach it. Weaving together themes from Homer, Virgil, and Dante, Mr. Cox shows us how these epic poems shape the boys' moral imaginations at a time when they are first beginning to ask life's perennial questions: What is the purpose of life? What is the purpose of my life? Can I be a hero? If so, what is my quest? By way of epic poetry, as Tom explains, the boys can begin to see that some of the most epic of all journeys may be hidden in the most ordinary, quotidien activities of life.
"Have a great summer!" We hear it and say it incessantly, but what are we actually wishing for our boys? 21st Century America gives boys 3 months off--that is one quarter of the year and an enormous amount of time. Join Lower School Head, Colin Gleason, for a discussion of three ways that boys can fill their summer with healthy leisure and positive growth.
To learn more about the Summer Workshops, click here.
Dr. Matthew Mehan unpacks the liberal arts. We can throw the term around to describe our school, but do we really understand what we mean? Is it more than a list of good books? Dr. Mehan explores what it means to be a student of the “arts of liberty”–a life long pursuit. For all of us.
Lower School Head, Colin Gleason, discusses paternal patience and anger in this week's episode. If you, like so many dads, find yourself regretting the fact that you "lost it," listen in. Mr. Gleason discusses anger and the ways that we, as fathers, can direct this emotion towards the good.
At the heart of teaching is the desire to make an impact on the lives of one’s students. Beyond conveying useful information or training them in resume-building skills, great teachers wish to help their students live well—to be fully alive. Such a task, difficult as it may be, is what mentoring is all about.
Yet most schools may not have a formal mentoring program. In these circumstances, how can teachers, who wish to help their students in ways that go beyond math or language arts, mentor students?
To help us answer this question, we welcome back to HeightsCast our Head of Mentoring, Joe Cardenas, for a discussion on how teachers can mentor in schools without a formal mentoring program. In the episode, Joe explains what mentoring is and why it matters, offering guidance on how to be intentional, humble, and patient as teachers seek to help students not only see the good to be done but come to want to do the good they have seen.
Register for Joe’s Mentoring Workshop here.
For lyrics, translation, and history of Regina Caeli, please visit: https://adoremus.org/2007/09/singing-the-four-seasonal-marian-anthems/
Chapters
Also on the Forum
Foundations for Mentoring Struggling Students: On Fighting the Right Fires with David Maxham
Mentoring Sons to a Successful Summer with Joe Cardenas
Finding Mentors After Graduation: On Find Your Six with Pat Kilner
On Addressing Character Defects: Thoughts on Tough Love with Joe Cardenas
Why Boys Need Mentors with Joe Cardenas and Alex Berthe
“Education,” wrote G. K. Chesterton, “is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.” If Chesterton is right, then education is about transmitting a culture, for what is culture if not the embodiment of a society’s soul? And what “soul” can be passed on from one human to another if it is not first embodied?
To discuss the importance of culture both to society generally and education specifically, we welcome to HeightsCast George Weigel, a distinguished senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a New York Times bestselling author. In the episode, Mr. Weigel speaks about Pope St. John Paul II’s “culture first” approach. Contrasting the late pope’s view with Marx’s view of economics as the primary driver of history and the Jacobin view of politics in the driver seat, Weigel explains the historical and philosophical roots of John Paul II’s view of culture as the driving force in history.
Along the way, he discusses what culture is and what education has to do with it.
Recommended Resources
Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II by George Weigel
John Paul II and the Priority of Culture by George Weigel
Also on the Forum
Family Culture with Alvaro de Vicente
Creating a Culture of Learning in the Home by Alvaro de Vicente
In schools today, Shakespeare is often taught superficially. Students attempt to grasp the plot with the aid of their teacher, who helps them through the difficult Elizabethan English. At best they learn something about the beautification of language and the cultural significance of the Bard. But his work is not taught as it was written to be understood, that is, sapientially, for growth in practical wisdom and the ability to see more clearly the nature of man and the man’s relationship with both fellow man and God.
This week on HeightsCast, we welcome back Dr. Matthew Mehan for a discussion of Shakespeare and the education of leaders. Associate Dean and Assistant Professor at Hillsdale’s Van Andel Graduate School of Government, Dr. Mehan helps us see that there is more to Shakespeare than is immediately apparent from a surface-level reading of his plays. He explains how a deep reading of the Bard offers a training in that nimbleness of mind—a good mother wit—without which, St. Thomas More said, all learning is half lame.
To do this, Dr. Mehan walks us through the opening of Hamlet, Act V. Not only does he offer an example of Shakespeare’s genius, he also gives an example of how to teach Shakespeare as not only aesthetically delightful but also morally instructive and useful—the ideal companion to theology and philosophy.
For educators interested in learning more about Shakespeare and how to teach him as a teacher of wisdom, check out the Forum’s summer workshop on Shakespeare.
Chapters
Also from the Forum
Why Our Politics Needs Poetry with Dr. Matthew Mehan
On Reading Literature by Joe Bissex
Five Fruits of a Poetic Education by Nate Gadiano
In Real Time: The Temporal Order of the Liberal Arts by Dr. Matthew Mehan
On Pieper’s Prudence: A Virtue for the Great Souled with Colin Gleason, Tom Cox, and Austin Hatch
In G. K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy, he tells a sort of parable in which children are given space to play on a mountain top surrounded by steep precipices on all sides. At first the children are left to play on the mountain top without any walls. Fearful of falling off one of the edges, they all huddle up in the middle. Then, walls are erected, and the security that such walls provide gives the children the confidence they need to play without fear of falling.
A father’s loving presence can act like such walls in the lives of his children. Yet, at times, the practical realities of life make it difficult for fathers to be fully present in such a way.
This week on HeightsCasts, we feature a talk given by headmaster Alvaro de Vicente on the topic of paternal presence, originally offered at our recent fatherhood conference. Although there are no set manuals for successful parenting, in his talk Mr. de Vicente suggests four areas that fathers can consider as they examine the ways they may or may not be present in their children’s lives:
In the end, Alvaro encourages fathers to behave as they would wish their sons to behave when they reach their own age. But when they fail, he also reminds them of St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta’s words: “God doesn't ask that we succeed in everything, but that we are faithfull.”.
Chapters
Also on the Forum
Friendship for Fathers: On Living and Teaching the Art with Prof. John Cuddeback
The Bedrock Principle of Fatherhood with Andy Reed
The Father and His Family: On Fatherhood with Michael Moynihan
Parenting from Fear: On Reasons for Confidence with Alvaro de Vicente
Parental Authority: On Our Role with Dr. Leonard Sax
As the world of academia becomes increasingly polarized, parents may be concerned about sending their children off to colleges where the general culture and ethos of campus are less than favorable to the worldview and way of life found in their own homes. Yet, many of these institutions are also prestigious and hold promise for success in one’s professional career.
How, then, should parents think about sending their children to such institutions? How should students, who have decided to attend them, approach their time there? Fly under the radar? Be an argumentative warrior for what they think is true?
To help us think through some of these questions, we welcome Nate Gadiano, Executive Director of The Heights Forum. Drawing on his experience as an undergraduate at Princeton and a graduate student at Notre Dame, Nate shares his thoughts on engaging with academic communities and cultures that differ from one’s own upbringing.
This podcast discussion was occasioned by a recent talk given by Mr. Gadiano for a group of parents, in which he discussed how parents can prepare their children for different college environments. In that talk, Nate gave seven principles for engaging with others in a fruitful and friendly manner:
In the end, Nate’s message to students as they prepare for college is contained in these words: be careful that in winning an argument you don’t lose a soul; be careful that in winning a friend you don’t lose your soul.
Chapters
Also from the Forum
Parenting from Fear: On Reasons for Confidence with Alvaro de Vicente
The Man Fully Alive: On Our Vision with Alvaro de Vicente
When to Fight: On Fistcuffs and the Peacemaking Protector with Kyle Blackmer
Finding Mentors After Graduation: On Find Your Six with Pat Kilner
On Preparing for Bad News: Raising Men Who Can Handle It with Dr. Matthew Mehan
Parents love their children and desire the best for them. Yet at times the world seems full of dangers and obstacles to a child’s ultimate good. Because of this, a certain fear may cast a shadow on the ways parents relate to their children.
To discuss parenting and fear, we welcome back Mr. Alvaro de Vicente to HeightsCast. In the episode, Alvaro explains some of the dangers of being overprotective and parenting from a sense of fear. Rather, he encourages parents to prudently discern moments to give their children the space for making the right choice on their own, which of course means that they also have the freedom to make a mistake. At the same time, Alvaro offers advice on optimistic and formative ways to say “no” to one’s children, when such is necessary.
As Alvaro reminds us, gratitude for the good received helps one to make positive decisions about the good to be done. If families make intentional time to remember and give thanks to God for the goodness in the world, parents and children alike will be naturally drawn to that Goodness from which the world came.
Chapters
Also on the Forum
Parental Authority: Our Role with Dr. Leonard Sax
Discipline in the Classroom: The Art of Order with Colin Gleason
Friendship for Fathers: Living and Teaching the Art with Prof. John Cuddeback
Parenting: Patience or Optimism with Andy Reed
His Anxiety and Ours: Confessions of an Anxious Parent Who Happens to Be a Therapist with Alex Berthé
In the past twenty years, research suggests that parents are worrying more about their children and spending more to provide them with comforts. In spite of such worry and wealth, the past twenty years have also seen an increase in these same American-born children from well-to-do families being diagnosed with various psychiatric disorders. Meanwhile, parents tend to swing from overly strict to overly lenient. Balancing love, both tender and tough, is a difficult art.
To help us dive deeper into this parental task, we welcome Dr. Leonard Sax to HeightsCast. In the episode, Dr. Sax discusses his book, The Collapse of Parenting: How We Hurt Our Kids When We Treat Them Like Grown-Ups. Drawing both from the wisdom of the ancients and the insights of modern science, Dr. Sax explains the importance of parental authority in raising children. Besides discussing parenting authority, he also offers thoughts on the importance of culture and schools, urging parents to consider carefully and choose prudently the school to which they will send their children.
As Dr. Sax reminds us, authentic freedom is not mere license, and if children are to be free in the end, they must, at the start, have the right amount of parental guidance. To give too much freedom too soon may end in the very loss of the freedom which one would have hoped to give.
Chapters
Recommended Resources
Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men by Dr. Leonard Sax
Why Gender Matters, Second Edition: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know about the Emerging Science of Sex Differences by Dr. Leonard Sax
Also on the Forum
Discipline in the Classroom: The Art of Order with Colin Gleason
Carpool: Making Commute Time Good Time with Kyle Blackmer
Friendship for Fathers: Living and Teaching the Art with Prof. John Cuddeback
Hell, Dante expresses, is being trapped by our false attempts to be free. Thus, the Comedy’s Satan is forever stuck in the ice of a lake made frozen by the beating of his wings as he attempts to “free” himself from the reality of God. Education, on the other hand, frees us from such a lake by leading us to embrace, with the fullness of our being, the Truth which sets us free.
This week on HeightCast we welcome Dr. Joseph Lanzilotti for a discussion of what Pope Benedict XVI can teach us about such an education. Drawing especially from the late pope’s 2008 address to educators at The Catholic University of America, Dr. Lanzilotti explains how hope and the beauty which engenders it rests at the heart of Pope Benedict’s response to what he called a crisis of education in the modern world.
Moving between theology and praxis, Dr. Lanzilotti focuses our attention on the nature and calling of educational institutions, both as they relate to the Church and to the world at large. Beyond places of data transfer or ready-made success measurable by test scores, such institutions are meeting places that reverberate with the life of the Church. They are places where students encounter the truth and especially that Truth which is found in prayer. They are places where beauty—the splendor of truth—can reverberate first in the hearts of students and then in the families and communities where they are called to serve after graduation.
Chapters
Additional Resources
Introduction to Christianity by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Truth and Tolerance: Christian Belief and World Religions by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
"Joseph Ratzinger as Doctor of Incarnate Beauty" by Tracey Rowland
"Address to Educators at The Catholic University of America" by Pope Benedict XVI
"Letter on the Urgent Task of Educating Young People" by Pope Benedict XVI
"General Audience on Prayer and the Holy Family of Nazareth" by Pope Benedict XVI
"Message on Silence and Word: Path of Evangelization" by Pope Benedict XVI
Also on the Forum
Order and Surprise: On Beauty and the Western Tradition with Lionel Yaceczko
Artwork in Schools: On the Buildings that Build Us with Joe Cardenas
On the Education of the Human Heart with Anton Vorozhko
What does it mean to be “civilized”? What is justice? What is a citizen? Given the opportunity, would you have killed Julius Caesar? Was Nero inevitable, or is it possible to keep one’s wits while running such a powerful empire?
These are a few of the questions that eighth graders at The Heights are challenged to ponder together in their core class. With the help of their teachers and a new history textbook, the boys not only consider these questions amongst themselves but do so in dialogue with some of the greatest thinkers of the Western tradition.
This week on HeightsCast, we discuss Tom Cox and Bill Dardis’s new book, Becoming Rome: Foundation, Republic, and Empire in the Words of Eminent Romans. In addition to sharing the story behind their writing, Tom and Bill introduce us to their method of teaching history at the primary and secondary school levels. Drawing on fourteen years of experience in the classroom as well as graduate studies in the liberal arts, Tom and Bill offer practical insights for teachers who hope not only to bring history to life in the classroom but also to prepare their students to bring those lessons into their own lives.
Chapters
Also on the Forum
The Importance of Ugly History by Mark Grannis
Keeping the Story in History by Mark Grannis
Seeing History: On Using Images in the History Classroom by Kyle Blackmer
Hillsdale’s M. Spalding on the Importance of History Pt. I with Dr. Matt Spalding
Hillsdale’s M. Spalding on the Importance of History Pt. II with Dr. Matt Spalding
Plutarch’s Lives Teach: Character Education through Story with Tom Cox
History the Way it Was…and the Way it Should Be by Bill Dardis
Writing and Thought; Oratory and Ethics: What We Give Our Seventh Graders in the Core with Tom Cox
As teachers and parents, it is often difficult to find the balance between leniency and strictness, love and fear. Getting the right tone, being firm in principle and flexible in preference, is indeed an art and an especially difficult one. While nothing can replace personal experience for growing in this art, self-reflection is a great aid to this end.
This week on HeightsCast, Mr. Colin Gleason, Head of the Lower School, offers an aid to our personal reflection. The episode features a presentation by Mr. Gleason from our recent Art of Teaching Conference. At that conference, he spoke to seventy men from across the United States and beyond about how we, as teachers, can foster an environment of respectful dominion in the classroom. Colin offers a list of twelve principles, together with a great many practical pointers and delightful anecdotes.
In the end, the point of discipline is to foster the right tone for learning, the proper culture for growth. Whether this growth occurs in the home or in the classroom, having the right tone is ultimately about love. Rome, they say, was not loved because she was great; she was great because she was first loved. So too our sons and students.
Chapters
Also on the Forum
Boys, Education, and The Heights with Alvaro de Vicente
Raising Contemplative Sons: The Problem with Boys with Colin Gleason
Our Little Protectors: How Do WE See Our Boys? with Alvaro de Vicente
On Recess: The Benefits of Free Play with Colin Gleason
Toughness for the Adolescent Boy by Kyle Blackmer
Seeing Our Boys with Loving Eyes: Not Projects, but Persons with Tom Royals
Why Boys Need to Be Given Freedom by Andy Reed
Material Order and the Middle School Boy with Kyle Blackmer
Can I Catch It?: On Handling Wildlife with Eric Heil
*For lyrics and history of the Ave Regina Caelorum, please visit adoremus.org.
It’s not merely where you are going, but how you get there, that matters. And as we often find ourselves going places in cars, it is worth stopping to consider how we spend our car rides.
In this week’s episode, we welcome back to the podcast Mr. Kyle Blackmer for a discussion of the daily commute. Whether we carpool or ride solo, Mr. Blackmer helps us to reframe how we approach this daily endeavor which can easily become, at best, dead time and, at worst, dreaded time.
Kyle shows us how the car, with the right attitude and a little creativity, can become its own classroom. He encourages us to think about how we can best use this time by praying, engaging in good conversation—at times mere fun, at other times more formative–, listening to good music and books, and celebrating.
Chapters
Recommended Audiobooks for the Road
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
Seabiscuit by Charles Rivers Editors
Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Treasury for Children by James Herriot
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingallas Wilder
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Once and Future King by T.H. White
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
The Complete Father Brown Collection by G.K. Chesterton
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller
Also on the Forum
On Home as Social Hub: The Importance of Hosting Our Sons and Their Friends with Tom Royals
Friendship for Fathers: John Cuddeback on Living and Teaching the Art with John Cuddeback
Sarah Mackenzi on the Read-Aloud Family with Sarah Mackenzi
In a recent national survey of adults in America, a striking sixty-one percent of young adults (age 18-25) reported feeling serious loneliness. Such feelings of loneliness were also accompanied by anxiety and depression. Although humans are by nature social animals, it would seem that forming deep friendships may not always come so naturally.
How do we form friendships? How do we help our sons form friendships? What even is friendship?
To help us answer these questions, we welcome to HeightsCast John Cuddeback, professor of philosophy at Christendom College and Life Craft writer and speaker. In this episode, Professor Cuddeback helps us understand what friendship is, how to practice the art of friendship, and how friendship goes hand-in-hand with happiness. As he explains, friendships do not merely happen. Rather, they require intentional cultivation and sustained effort. Indeed, like any art, the art of friendship requires discipline and practice. Specifically, Professor Cuddeback focuses our attention on how a husband can form a deep friendship with his wife and a few male friends, as well as how he can help his children to grow in their own friendships. Being a father first, he may one day become a friend of his adult children.
As Professor Cuddeback explains, true friendship is the only way to overcome loneliness in life. And, in the end, it will be in sharing our lives with friends that we come to find the ultimate meaning of our lives.
Chapters
Resources
True Friendship: Where Virtue Becomes Happiness by John Cuddeback
Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle
Spiritual Friendship by Aelred of Rievaulx
Treatise on Law by Thomas Aquinas
Also on The Forum
Cultivating Friendship in the Classroom by Austin Hatch
On Friendship after Senior Year: Higher Stakes and Beautiful Opportunities with Dave Maxham
Friendship for the 21st Century Boy with Alvaro de Vicente
On Home as Social Hub: The Importance of Hosting Our Sons and Their Friends with Tom Royals
With another year having passed—perhaps even sped by—and a new one underfoot, HeightsCast returns with a discussion of time and solitude with Mike Ortiz and Rob Greving. Together, Mike and Rob invite us to slow down as they unpack their two recently published articles on the Forum.
Mr. Ortiz dives into Henry David Thoreau’s cabin life and the importance of intentional times of solitude in our lives, while Mr. Greving considers our often uneasy relationship with time and the good of slowing down, even as the world speeds up.
As we look forward to the new year with hope and anticipation, let us not forget to slow down and, in Mr. Greving’s words, listen for the present moment. After all, you can’t read a poem in a hurry. And if you are always in a hurry, you might miss the poetry of life.
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
The World of Silence by Max Picard
Living in Liturgical Time by Terence Sweeney
"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost
"Mossbawn": Two Poems in Dedication by Seamus Heaney
Thoreau’s Cabin Life: Why It's Not Anti-Social to Savor Solitude by Mike Ortiz
Handling Time Gently by Rob Greving
The Freedom to Form Bonds: Kevin Majeres on Mindfulness and Attention with Kevin Majeres
Forming Deep Workers with Cal Newport
What Is the Difference between Free Time and Leisure? by Joe Bissex
From the very start, the founders of The Heights understood education to consist in the communication of a culture. As culture often enters a boy's mind through his senses, an important means of this transmission is the art and architecture of a school. Indeed, in many ways buildings embody the ideals of an institution.
This week Joe Cardenas, head of mentoring and long-time art history teacher, joins us for a conversation on the importance of beauty in education. Rooting the conversation in the American tradition, Joe helps us see why and how the art and architecture of schools is as important as the books in its curriculum.
As we hear from Joe, the art on a school’s walls become the images adorning a student’s soul. If we want to help our boys be at home in their very selves, the art of schools is an indispensable means to this end.
Chapters
Additional Resources
Adoremus.org's explanation of the Four Seasonal Marian Anthems (includes history and translation)
PDF of Music and Lyrics to Alma Redemtoris Mater from gregorian-chant-hymns.com
Speech on the Rebuilding of the House of Commons by Winston Churchill
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
The Feeling of Things, the Contemplation of Beauty by Joseph Ratzinger
A Catholic Eton? by Paul Shrimpton
Also on the Forum
School Tone, the Most Powerful Teacher with Alvaro de Vicente
Building Little Houses: Why Random Art Projects Are Awesome by Joe Bissex
Manners: The Art of Happiness by Robert Greving
Why Our Politics Needs Poetry with Dr. Matthew Mehan
Five Fruits of a Poetic Education by Nate Gadiano
In many schools, education is understood in reductively intellectual terms. The point of teaching, it would seem, is merely to inform, to fill the mind with data, to train the intellect to perform tasks and solve puzzles. To be sure, information and intellectual virtues are essential aspects of education; but they are not the whole, and to make them so would be to reduce the person to his mind.
In this talk, taken from our recent Art of Teaching Conference, Anton Vorozhko helps us understand the role of the heart in the education of the whole human person. Starting with a reflection on the greatest of teachers, Christ—the one to whom all other teachers ought ultimately to point—Anton offers advice at once practical and personal. His talk centers on three areas, or apostolates, which he suggests teachers should consider: presence, correction, and prayer.
In the end, considering these three apostolates will help teachers turn their daily work into what St. John Henry Newman called a cor ad cor loquitur—a heart speaking unto heart—making his task not only to inform the mind but equally to move the heart.
Chapters
Additional Resources
Forty Dreams of St. John Bosco: From St. John Bosco’s Biographical Memoirs by St. John Bosco
Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II by George Weigel
Also on The Forum
The Art of Teaching: On Forming Contemplative Souls with Rich Moss
Developing Your Son’s Will with Andy Reed
The Freedom to Form Bonds: Kevin Majeres on Mindfulness and Attention with Dr. Kevin Majeres
The Talk and Beyond with Michael Moynihan
In this episode, we feature a recorded lecture given by Rich Moss in his introductory presentation at the Art of Teaching conference hosted by The Heights Forum last week. In this talk, Rich explains why teaching is an art, what that art is, and what are the tools utilized by the teaching artist.
Boys love concrete details and, even more, they love when those concrete details form the fabric of a hero's tale. Indeed, as Aristotle himself knew, better than telling adolescents merely about virtue is giving them examples of heroes, for good men are not made in theory, but in practice and boys need to see virtues practiced to be inspired themselves.
What better place to turn than an author who has taught generations of leaders, not least of which were our own country’s founders. That man is Plutarch and our guide is Tom Cox, one of the architects of the eighth grade core humanities class and current upper school classics teacher.
In this episode, Mr. Cox shows why and how we teach Plutarch to our boys. He explains why it is important to find the good even in heroes that are less than saints and helps us understand that education is more than something that merely happens; it requires a boy’s freedom.
Although heroes may not be saints, they are good starting points. It is perhaps not mere happenstance that Plutarch wrote his biographies as the Evangelists were writing their lives of life’s Author. As the Greek philosopher was a master at portraying those little details which form a hero’s character, it is the man from Nazareth who teaches us to turn them into heroic verse—and that is the beginning of holiness.
Chapters
Additional Resources
Lives by Plutarch
Also on The Forum
Writing and Thought; Oratory and Ethics: What we Give Our 7th Graders in the Core with Tom Cox
History the Way It Was… And the Way It Should Be by Mark Grannis
Aristotle on the Student’s Job by Tom Cox
Seneca on the Teacher’s Job by Tom Cox
This week on HeightsCast, we feature headmaster Alvaro de Vicente’s open house speech on the mission and vision of The Heights School. In the speech, Alvaro helps parents discern the right school for their son. Understanding education to be essentially about partnering with parents to transmit a culture, he encourages parents to thoughtfully consider the culture of our school and how it relates to the culture of their own homes. In addition, Mr. de Vicente offers a few words on our vision of manhood, suggesting that to be a good man, one must also be quite dangerous: powerful enough to do damage, but with the moral character to do great things.
Chapters
Additional Resources
Against All Hope: A Memoir of Life in Castro’s Gulag by Armando Valladares
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Also on The Forum
The Man Fully Alive with Alvaro de Vicente
Self-Mastery: Alvaro de Vicente on Fostering Interior Freedom in Schools with Alvaro de Vicente
Who Am I?: The Question of Persona with Alvaro de Vicente
Our Little Protectors: How Do WE See Our Boys? with Alvaro de Vicente
Forming Wise, Courageous Risk-Takers with Alvaro de Vicente
This week on HeightsCast, we feature a recording of the 2022 Headmaster’s Lecture on the man fully alive. In this lecture, Mr. Alvaro de Vicente helps us understand what we mean when we use St. Irenaeus’ oft-quoted though seldom understood words that gloria Dei est vivens homo: the glory of God is living man.
Mr. de Vicente shares his thoughts on the destination and the road ahead, suggesting that to live fully on earth we must understand that the fullness of life is found only in heaven. And if we are to reach this destination which is our destiny, we should see this life as practice for the next.
In particular, he offers three actions that are the best practice for heaven:
Taking us through each of these, Mr. de Vicente helps us to approach life in a playful way, taking ourselves lightly and others seriously; to discover the beauty of the world, contemplating with loving eyes and a grateful heart; and to commit fully, passionately persevering in our love for others. Our boys will not live these ideals perfectly—we will not live them perfectly—but if together we begin and begin again often, we will be well on the way; and that will be a taste of heaven.
Chapters
Also on The Forum
Foundations of Hope: Raising Optimistic Men Fully Alive with Alvaro de Vicente
The Education of “Men Fully Alive”: The Mission and Vision of The Heights with Alvaro de Vicente
Who Am I?: The Question of Persona with Alvaro de Vicente
Our Little Protectors: How Do WE See Our Boys? with Alvaro de Vicente
Forming Wise, Courageous Risk-Takers with Alvaro de Vicente
In Defense of Victory by Kyle Blackmer
Additional Resources
Against Heresies by St. Irenaeus
In this week’s episode, we discuss science fiction with Mr. Joe Breslin, fifth grade teacher and soon-to-be published author of Other Minds: 13 Tales of Wonder and Sorrow. Surveying the wide umbrella of literature and film termed “sci-fi,” Mr. Breslin helps us understand what makes this genre of literature valuable, interesting, and beautiful.
As Mr. Breslin explains, science fiction done well offers a celebration of the human person, showing us in often strange ways what is possible for us as thinking beings. Moreover, by removing us from the humdrum of our ordinary lives and instilling a sense of awe as we experience another world, science fiction can provide new insights into old problems, helping us rediscover the wonder of our own everyday lives. And this is often much needed–for although our world may never be lacking in wonders, we may at times find our weary selves lacking in the wonder to see it.
Chapters
Also on The Forum
Modern Literature: On Curating the Contemporary with Michael Ortiz
Guiding Our Boys through Modern Literature with Joe Breslin and Lionel Yaceczko
Exploring and Expressing the Human Condition through Literature with Michael Ortiz
Additional Resources
Joey Breslin Writes, Mr. Breslin’s writing website
From the boys’ choir in the lower school to the men’s chorus in the upper school, informal performances at faculty dinners to songs at the annual Maryland Day Gala, singing echoes throughout the whole of The Heights experience. This week, we sit down with Mr. Patrick Love, music teacher at The Heights since 2004, to discuss not only when and where we sing at The Heights but why we love to sing so much.
As you’ll hear, singing—broadly understood—is at the heart of our school's mission. Cantare amantis est, St. Augustine tells us: singing belongs to the one who loves. And as Arthur Clutton-Brock wrote, “education ought to teach us how to be in love always and what to be in love with.” In educating our boys to become men fully alive, then, we are ultimately helping them to love, to find their voice, and to fall in love with One who sings them into existence.