Cultivate: A Veritas Academy Podcast

We're excited to launch Season Three of the Cultivate Podcast with this conversation with bestselling author and president of the Association of Classical Christian Schools (ACCS) David Goodwin, who co-authored the 2022 book Battle for the American Mind: Uprooting a Century of Miseducation . This episode features enlightening insight into how modern public education as we know it has been driv...

We're on the cusp of a new school year at Veritas Academy, and "back to school" season is an appropriate time to consider what is really the point of school? Why do we and our children invest so many thousands of hours (and even dollars) into an education? Is it just so our kids can get a good job someday? To give them something to fill their hours as they grow? To make friends and l...

This episode originally aired in October 2022 as part of our first season of Cultivate. With summer winding down, many of us parents may have a heightened awareness of way our days with our children are spent, as we seek to make the most of this time we have. This conversation may help you think differently - and even Biblically - about how to infuse your family's days with real meaning. (Orig...

This episode originally aired in July 2022 as part of Cultivate Season 1. We're looking forward to sharing this eye-opening, important conversation with you again this summer, to encourage strong, Godly influence and relationships with your older children. We invite  author, pastor, and speaker Dr. Tedd Tripp  to talk with our host Ty Fischer about how Christian parents can relate with their o...

This episode originally aired in June 2022 as part of Season 1 of Cultivate. For those who are new to the Cultivate podcast, or if you missed this episode, we're excited to share it again! Backyard barbecues, picnics, family reunions, impromptu gatherings - these are staple part of many of our summers. In classical Christian education, we value incorporating communal meals (we like to call the...

This episode is a special treat for anyone who either loves classical Christian education, or is fascinated by its rise in popularity, or even someone who is just learning about this unique and wonderful movement in Christian education. Take a journey back to the very beginning of this era of classical Christian education as we know it - 40 years ago in Moscow, Idaho - with a man who has been inst...

Looking for some summer reading inspiration for yourself or your children? Two particular 20th century authors are most beloved around the Veritas (and, Christian in general) community: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein. This episode gives a new perspective on why these authors and their works are so enduring, influential, and simply wonderful. Listen in on a fun and insightful discussion with Mr. Pau...

Are you weary of the way that politics has seemed to seep into every corner of our lives, including in the education of even our youngest children? Ty Fischer and Veritas Dean of Students and humanities teacher Graham Dennis talk about the valuing a “pre-political” education, and what that looks like as we seek to cultivate a generation who can discuss an array of difficult topics with confidence,...

It's graduation season, a time rife with not only excitement and anticipation, but also apprehension about next steps - for young adults stepping out into college or careers, and for their parents who look ahead to an uncertain future. 2008 Veritas Academy graduate John Hayward joins Ty Fischer this week to share his story and insight that will help assuage our stress over whether we (or our c...

She's a gifted artist and musician who is pursuing a medical degree, wrote her senior thesis on a controversial gene editing technology, loves history, and talked effortlessly about Dostoevsky on national television last year. Veritas 2022 graduate Sarah Jacob is our guest this week, and while her resume snapshot above may seem astonishing, she is one incredible example of how a classical Chri...

Our guest this episode is Dr. Robert P. "Robby" George , renowned public intellectual, legal and constitutional scholar, and McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, where he also founded and serves as the Director of the James Madison Program for American Ideals and Institutions. Dr. George was the commencement speaker at Veritas Academy's 2022 graduation ceremo...

When did a dichotomy become assumed between academic excellence and Christian devotion? Over time, a mindset has developed that seems to tell us that these two traits can't coexist; that striving for one will compromise the other in our lives. The Veritas Dean of Math and Science, Rhonda Forbes, talks with our host Ty Fischer about why she sees these two worthwhile objectives - academic excell...

Middle schoolers love to argue. We might as well be faithful to equip them to do it well. In this episode, Veritas Logic teacher Nathaniel Stamper (who also teaches Omnibus, Apologetics, and Junior Thesis) talks with Ty Fischer about why 7th and 8th graders are ready for the challenge and joy of learning logic, how we teach them to apply logic at Veritas, and why this type of education is so impor...

Our host and head of school Ty Fischer sits down with longtime Veritas first and second grade teachers Sharon Strawbridge and Deb Chapin to talk about how they instill an excitement that blossoms into a lifelong love for reading into their students, and what factors are important in helping children love to read for the joy of it.

In the cycle of our core Omnibus curriculum at Veritas, middle and high schoolers get plenty of exposure to the original texts of the great ancient writer and thinks - Plato, Aristotle, Livy, Herodotus, Theucydides and more. In an age where ideas and fads come and go and things are considered outdated within less than a year's (or a month's!) span, how is it valuable for our youth to read, examine...

David Bahnsen - portfolio manager, author, television commentator, and host of the Dividend Cafe podcast - joins our host Ty Fischer to talk about how we can and should view economics in light of God's plan and glory, and why work is something we should lead our children toward embracing as they live their lives as image bearers of a creative, productive God. The son of the late theologian Greg Ba...

Our Season 2 Pilot Episode is a live recording from this past weekend's Launch Party, which featured a panel discussion with some of our guests who are joining us this upcoming season. Listen in to hear: A reveal of our exciting and diverse season two episodes Insightful and entertaining discussions on why we read "dead people," why education should help students grow to not be "one-topic people,"...

Leslie Bustard, our previous episode's guest, shares three of her favorite poems with us, each unique in its own wonderful way. Take a moment to indulge in a little poetry today with Leslie and Ty, and allow these works to help you see the world (and the Lord) with fresh eyes. If you enjoyed this episode and our previous interview with Leslie on loving poetry, you'll enjoy Square Halo Books' upcom...

In this bonus episode of Cultivate, longtime Veritas friend and guest Leslie Bustard shares with us her passion for poetry and inspires listeners to explore poetry as a way to "help us remember that which would impoverish us to forget." If you enjoyed this episode, you will love the upcoming Ordinary Saints Conference, February 17-18, produced by Square Halo Books (of which Leslie is Vice Presiden...

In order for you - and your family - to fully appreciate and enter into the anticipation of Christmas, you must be able to see how the incarnation of Christ fits into the whole story of creation, fall, redemption. Graham Dennis talks with us about why it's so monumental that God stepped into time and space to become Emmanuel, and how it all is the consummation of the great promise repeated through...

In a culture that is disenchanted in so many ways, Christmas gives us the opportunity to share the wonder and enchantment of God's beautiful story. Graham Dennis, Veritas Dean of Students and host of our special Cultivate Advent series, shows us how some of the symbolism surrounding the Christmas and Advent season point us to the greatest story ever told through Christ's coming to earth. Listen in...

We feel the darkness of our days so keenly right now - not just the moral and spiritual darkness hovering over our world, but more explicitly the early nightfall and late sunrises of winter. When we're in a place of darkness, we often find ourselves longing for the light, just as Israel was longing for a Messiah. Graham Dennis, Veritas Dean of Students and host of our special five-part Advent podc...

For the second episode of our special Advent series, Graham Dennis talks with Veritas Principal Dan Spanjer, author of the recently-released devotional book Advent Is the Story: Seeing the Nativity Throughout Scripture . Listen in as Graham and Dan discuss how, from Genesis to Revelation, God's redemptive plan of Christ's coming to earth is revealed. For those of us feeling the drudgery of this br...

Graham Dennis, Veritas Dean of Students, leads us in this first installment of our special five-episode Advent series. Even as our days grow shorter and darker, our anticipation of the Christmas holiday season grows. Your family is probably already making preparations for Christmas - planning get togethers, gift lists, travel, and activities. Taking time to intentionally observe Advent (and some o...

Time is a precious commodity in our families' lives today. Amid the rushing and the fullness of our schedules, it's so important that we consider how we can fill our days with meaningful activity - not just meaningless, utilitarian activity. In this, our final episode of Season One, Graham Dennis and Ty Fischer discuss how you can (and why you should) find ways to imbue your days with truth, beaut...