HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully Alive

Natural History is a largely outdoor, discovery-based class for our lower school students, where they see the Valley as a textbook and the seasons as its chapters. Eric Heil has taught Natural History to his third graders for decades now, and in this rebroadcast from 2021, he unpacks the class's lessons of close observation, pattern recognition, scientific inquiry, identification, wonder, and the...

Our headmaster often uses this paradigm for the ideal Heights graduate: he's the kind of young man you'd want your daughter to marry. In a recent article for the Forum, Dr. Joseph Lanzilotti asked: in our current culture, how does a boy grow up to be the kind of man who  desires  that life? Delving into Church sources, both scriptural and magisterial, he has assembled the outline of a theology of...

How many of us wondered at some point in our lives: "Should I go to law school?" It's a common question as one approaches college graduation. Students find themselves on that "moving walkway" toward the future: it  will  go forward, but at which stop should they get off? How can they pick a path on purpose—and not due to momentum? Heights upper school teacher Mark Grannis spent decades practicing...

This year's Heights Forum Art of Teaching Boys Conference brought together motivated educators from across the country (and beyond) to discuss a new vision for boys' education. The overwhelming follow-up questions: How can I craft and communicate a new vision back at  my  school? How does a school community grow united in its vision and sense of mission? This week on HeightsCast, Headmaster Alvaro...

"Something old, something new, something red white and blue." The American Book of Fables  is Dr. Matthew Mehan and artist John Folley's latest children's book—or, rather, family book—presented for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It offers a delightful education in civics, geography, history, and love of country by combining the American founding documents, short poetry,...

As a top cybersecurity expert in the commercial sector, Mark Ryland has spent nearly a decade following the development of AI systems—their possibilities, their risks, and their limits. And he's found reason for measured optimism. At this year's Heights Parents Conference on "AI and Our Sons: Optimism in Uncharted Waters," Mr. Ryland brought a moderating perspective to the podium, sharing his insi...

AI tech has come knocking at the classroom door, and schools across the country are rushing to design their AI policies around information that seems to change by the day. At this year's Heights Parents Conference on "AI and Our Sons: Optimism in Uncharted Waters," writer and educator Andrew Cantarutti shared the research and critical analysis necessary for school communities to consider the claim...

A rapid rollout of integrated AI into technology we use everyday brings with it new considerations for our tech policies at home. At this year's Heights Parents Conference on "AI and Our Sons: Optimism in Uncharted Waters," author and public policy researcher Clare Morell shared the latest news and research to inform our digital decisions at home. She points out that, increasingly, the vision we a...

Saving civilization well may begin with eye contact, a tucked shirt, a sincere apology, or a held door. For the dispositions we have toward the little things truly train our sense of human dignity. In his new book,  The Apostolate of Courtesy , middle school Latin and language arts teacher Rob Greving follows in the footsteps of St. Francis de Sales. His book offers a defense of civility for the s...

How have we allowed such a daring story as the American founding to become so flat? A history lesson so simple, tidy, and inevitable that it can be covered in one day's class? Dr. Matthew Spalding, dean of Hillsdale's Van Andel Graduate School of Government, wants to revive the living story of the American founding—and the Declaration of Independence, in particular. Calling it our nation's "epic p...

Why tell the truth when it doesn't always pay? It's important to let boys encounter this question through example, literature, and enough freedom to wrestle with his own conscience. In this rebroadcast of a 2017 talk, Head of Lower School Colin Gleason admits that you can't "teach" integrity with drills and facts. But you can create an environment that encourages it to develop. We have to push pas...

Could creativity and intellectual freedom actually  depend  on the rote? Following up on his recent article for the Forum, math teacher Dave Maxham dives into why fundamentals and drills are integral to creativity—not hindrances. Between the "drill and kill" and the "free inquiry" camps lies the golden mean: an understanding that mastery and even delight in the basics allows for real, nimble handl...

What do our children need most from us in the unsteady years of middle school? First, says Head of Middle School Andy Reed, they need our availability. But making ourselves fully and honestly available runs contrary to so many modern patterns of life, from work demands and short schedules to the ever-tempting screen. In fact, Mr. Reed calls it the Mount Everest of Modern Parenting: replacing frene...

Today, we have an increasing store of research to evaluate the claims of educational tech. Where does it assist or upend our goals as a school? Where does it support or bypass our students' intellectual sovereignty? Can it be used constructively? This week on HeightsCast, writer and educator Andrew Cantarutti shares with us the research on digital tools, and especially AI, in K-12 education. In pa...

Volume, pitch, pace, tone, inflection: the human voice is our primary teaching instrument. The spoken word has not just a  logos  and an  ethos  but an embodied and personal quality—which comes with enormous advantages. This week, twenty-five-year Heights veteran Tom Steenson shares a valuable reflection on the human voice and how we use it in the classroom. He includes many practical examples of...

When we join a school community, it should be to join forces with teachers, administrators, and other families in the "conspiracy for the good" of our children. In this multi-engine partnership, how do parents best play their role as the stewards of their child's whole-person formation? In this rebroadcast from 2022, Headmaster Alvaro de Vicente covers the idea of wise, willing, and informed partn...

Does a talented person have a duty to serve others? What do leading citizens really need to live well, freely, impactfully—even greatly? How do we, parents and educators, order the educational goods? "When I think of Thomas More's life, writings, and example, I think: here are the materials we need to answer those questions." So says Dr. Stephen Smith, professor at Hillsdale College and co-directo...

"Charity and clarity" are the lodestars when teaching middle school boys with various faith backgrounds—and who are developing faith dispositions of their own. Bill Dardis teaches middle school religion and eighth grade core at The Heights. In his sixteen years of experience, he's navigated many tricky waters with the boys, with the ultimate goal to bring them into a deeper and more engaged relati...

The crisis of meaning among young people gets a lot of press; but a quieter crisis of calling afflicts every generation today. Dr. Arthur Brooks says the causes are the same: not knowing what our life is really and ultimately for. In his talk at The Heights Forum Convivium 2025, Dr. Brooks shares the facts about calling—where neuroscience, psychology, and theology all agree, and how he (finally) f...

Kevin Twomey is a husband, father, and a principal consultant at Table Group, founded by Patrick Lencioni, which specializes in helping executive teams build a healthy operational work culture. Lencioni's book,  The Three Big Questions , brings that same expertise to bear on the modern frantic family: helping parents find their family identity, create intentional priorities, and live with more ord...

The first images of a "protector" that flash through our minds might be the warrior, the superhero, the movie star physically holding back evil from invading the world…. Our lower school head, Colin Gleason, casts a different vision: the benevolent king, the merciful brother, the knight at vigil in the sanctuary. Yes, our role as fathers is to protect—most often through a steady presence that comm...

To prepare for Homer, Virgil, Beowulf, the Eddas, and Dante—The Heights begins with Tolkien. In a talk from 2016, former middle school core teacher and current upper school classics teacher Tom Cox defends the place of J. R. R. Tolkien's  The Lord of the Rings  in the epic tradition. He then explains why Middle Earth is so uniquely suited to the middle school, using Samwise the Stouthearted as our...

From utero and into infancy, babies recognize their mother as being essentially one with them. So, being placed in their father's arms is in fact their first introduction to the "other," the outside world. The father will continue this crucial role as mediator and representative to the outside world throughout a boy's childhood. With decades of experience and dozens of personal anecdotes, Upper Sc...

Our mission is to assist parents in the intellectual, moral, physical, and spiritual formation of their sons… At The Heights, we repeat these words often, including a paraphrase at the beginning of every HeightsCast episode. But what constitutes intellectual formation? What does educating the intellect look like? Co-founder of the Hillbilly Thomists and  Rector Magnificus  at the Pontifical Univer...

"Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matt. 16:25). This week we're joined by Fr. Carter Griffin, rector of the St. John Paul II Seminary in the Archdiocese of Washington, and Alvaro de Vicente, headmaster of The Heights School, to examine "discernment." It's become a Catholic buzzword, applied (or sometimes, perhaps, misapplied) to a...