Why Study Dead Languages
Because of our own language’s profound debt to the Latin, the young student of Latin can begin to “translate” English, often without the need of a dictionary. A working knowledge […]
The Challenge of a Secular Age
We live in a secular age. Charles Taylor, in his massive book which bears the above title, poses the question, “How is it that 500 years ago it was almost impossible […]
21st Century Skills Require 25 Centuries of Context
My first brush with politics as a “full contact sport” came in 1973 when the Watergate hearings were televised gavel-to-gavel on black and white TV. The three networks, ABC, CBS […]
Boiling It Down: Think. Learn. Love. Live.
I didn’t spend much time in the kitchen as a child, unless it was to get under Grandma’s feet, so I had to wait until I was married to learn […]
The Butting Order: How Middle School Students Rank Themselves in School
Middle school student are very much aware of what we call the “butting order.” We all have our own preferences and opinions that form our individual kingdoms. Within our own kingdoms, […]
Marking Milestones: What You See if You Stay Long Enough
Every year about this time year I get a bittersweet feeling deep down in my soul. I’m preparing to let go of students I’ve watched grow up, some of whose […]
The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships: Truth, Goodness and Beauty
“Was this the face that launched a thousand ships, and burnt the topless towers of Ilium?” This line by Christopher Marlow in Doctor Faustus (c. 1590) is one of the […]
Yes, We Are Thinking About Safety…All The Time
Recent events in South Florida are disturbing to those of us who teach and work in schools. On the one hand these events seem far away and removed; on the […]
Where do the Grads Go?
Current and prospective parents often ask what our students do after graduation from the School of Rhetoric. They’re really asking a couple of questions, “Where do they go to college?” […]
Looking Forward to Easter
My students in middle school chapel all agree with me that they look forward to Christmas. Along about Halloween the stores are displaying their obnoxious Christmas sale signs, and by Thanksgiving, we […]
