HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully Alive

This podcast features the first half of a lecture delivered by our headmaster on the topic of  Raising Boys in an Age of Affluence.   We live in one of the wealthiest cities, in the wealthiest country, in the wealthiest era in the history of the world. In general, there's no place we'd rather be and we are blessed. There are however, certain predispositions that societal affluence can engender in...

The Heights  requires  its students to study Latin. Why? Is it from a love of the old? Are we simply fascinated by antiquity? To the contrary, there are excellent practical and existential reasons for classical studies. The benefits we seek in language study generally are found to be more powerful within the particular study of Latin. Moreover, speaking the language of the ancients allows us to co...

Today on HeightsCast, Joe Cardenas, Head of Mentoring at The Heights, proposes 5 purposes of study. Our boys should always have a "why" in mind before they roll up their sleeves and dive into their study. But are grades enough? Not really--at least they shouldn't be.  Joe argues that there is a deeper purpose to our deep study.

Dr. Cal Newport joins us for Part II of his interview on Forming Deep Workers. What does a middle or high school deep worker look like? Cal Newport discusses APs, Classroom Tech, College Admissions, and more.

As parents, we fight distraction in our lives daily. Our phones tether us to the trivial, and our inability to stay off email for even limited periods of time costs us the rewards and satisfaction of deep work.  America's youth, to an even greater extent, are losing the ability to focus on difficult tasks. This podcast features Cal Newport, author of Deep Work, So Good They Can't Ignore You, and H...

This week on HeightsCast Dr. Matt Mehan offers his thoughts on Homer's Odyssey. In particular, Dr. Mehan focuses on the the first four books of the Odyssey and the arts of friendship and mentoring young men. Listen in for a concrete example of the contemporary applicability of the artes liberales.

Join Mr. Tom Longano for part two of his series on raising readers. He provides guidance here for refining the reading habits of two diametrically opposed categories of readers. No silver bullets, just points for consideration and reflection. Also, insights into Mr. Longano's personal journey towards a love of reading.

As fathers, we play a central and critical role in the lives of our families.  Despite that, however, we have lost many of the communities that in ages past offered us practical advice and wisdom.  Michael Moynihan steps into this void offering the contemporary father concise and thoughtful timeless advice about how to fulfill your role as a father.  In this podcast, Michael talks about his new bo...

"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 young boys can fill their summer with healthy leisure and positive growth.

Can a 20 second prayer transform your day? How about your son's?  Heights teacher and author, Michael Ortiz, discusses how a century old norm of piety--the Morning Offering--allows us to renew each and every day while placing our prayers, works, joys, and sufferings on the altar. Can a 20 second prayer transform your day?  How about your son's? Heights teacher and author, Michael Moynihan, discuss...

In this episode, third grade teacher, Mr. Tom Longano, shares his experience on how to foster a love of reading in his students.

This week on HeightsCast, we listen to the second part of Mr. Alvaro de Vicente's lecture on Moral Imagination.

Boys develop a world view and paradigm that informs much of how they see themselves and their obligations to the world around them. This view informs not only their macro view, but also their smaller interactions with day to day situations. What is this view, or moral imagination, why does it matter, and how do we shape it for the good?

Prof. Eddie Smith, former Heights faculty and long time history teacher at American University, shares a few moments with us on Frederick Douglass to prepare listeners for Saturday night's Heights Lecture. Who was Frederick Douglass and how did he, a liberated slave, so dramatically change the course of American history? Enjoy this HeightsCast recorded in Hoban's Pub in Washington D.C.

Athletics are many a boy's first love. So many of our own students are passionate for sport--a transformative conglomeration of play and work, melded into one sweaty contest against others and the self. Indeed, our School has helped produce numerous Division I, II, and III athletes over the years. That said, the Washington D.C. area is leading the charge towards the continued professionalization o...

This week's HeightsCast features Mr. Tom Cox, one of the engineers of the Heights Core Humanities Sequence, who discusses the capstone 7th grade course. Our 7th graders tackle Latin and English simultaneously. How? Why? Listen in to find out. At The Heights, diagraming a sentence in two separate languages can lead to clarity of thought and the good moral life.

Longtime Heights teacher, Mr. Gerard Babendreier, joins us in the studio to discuss the benefits to students of studying History and Literature together, specifically within the context of the Freshman Core Class. Hear how this segment of the Heights Core Humanities Sequence helps students "learn how to learn," by taking them on a journey from Ancient Rome through Napoleon, using both  literature...

A Liberal Arts education empowers citizens to make rational decisions about complex issues with reference to, among other things, our history.  While we, as a nation, grapple with issues of national identity and citizenship, we would be remiss to ignore the experience of our ancestors, the Romans. Join Dr. Yaceczko as he explores Roman notions of nationality, citizenship, and borders, and, subsequ...

Mr. Joe Cardenas applies his years of experience in advisory to the tricky subject of devices. As with many things, the best way to teach good values, is to practice them ourselves.

Dr. Mehan looks at whether this novel is a true image of apostasy and of Christian martyrdom.

This week on HeightsCast, we listen to an excerpt from Tom Cox's Heights Lecture on the virtues exhibited by Samwise Gamgee from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, and how the study of this stouthearted hobbit is important in the formation of a middle school student.

Seneca's writing and wisdom are not outdated.  In fact, they are relevant and helpful now more than ever.  Dr. Matt Mehan explores two of Seneca's Epistles dealing with good use of time and the imprudence of fearing an unknown future.  The liberal arts are not just abstract and ethereal; they are thoroughly practical, as we see here in no uncertain terms.  Seneca is for our boys and for us--a grea...

The well intentioned gift of electronics carries it sometimes unconsidered risks.  Headmaster Alvaro de Vicente brings these out into the open, highlighting the ways that smart phones, tablets, and other devices can counteract our mission of forming strong-willed men.

Though we hear Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving, we miss an opportunity to grow with our children when we bypass Advent.  Hear Mr. Tom Steenson discuss how we, as parents and teachers, can live the liturgical season of Advent in a way that truly prepares us for December 25th .

Join two Freshman Core teachers, Gerard Babendreier and Joe Cardenas, for a discussion about how high schoolers should approach their study. To simply call this homework is an unfortunate oversimplification.