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The Classical Administrator

Administration is the process or activity of running a business or organization. And while that is the given definition, I propose that there is far more to administration in your classical school than simply filling out paperwork, checking boxes, attending meetings, and nodding your head. The task of administration is a gift. It is also a grave responsibility. As an administrator at a classical school you are tasked with affecting the hearts and minds of Read more…

By Kathy Becker, ago

The Real Problem with the Greco-Roman Greats: Gender or Values?

CNN recently summarized the immense achievements of eight Western thinkers—Homer, Herodotus, Sophocles, Plato, Aristotle, Demosthenes, Cicero, and Virgil—with this accolade: “Male. Male. Male. Male. Male. Male. Male. Male.”  It is an indictment that could also have been leveled against Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had the Biblical patriarchs been included on the list.These are the thinkers whose names grace the pediment of Columbia University’s Butler Library, which was built in 1931, at a time when Western civilization Read more…

By Martin Cothran, ago

The Three Classical Principles of Leadership

What makes a good leader? Knowing classical thought helps us in this regard. Classical thought tends to center around three general ideas: the good, the true, and the beautiful.  Using this classical scheme, we can derive three principles of leadership: character, competence, and creativity. These also map nicely onto the tripartite human soul, that thing which is possessed both by you as a leader and those you would presume to lead: the will, the intellect, Read more…

By Martin Cothran, ago

Education Research as Propaganda

Education Week magazine, the premier mouthpiece for the education establishment, recently touted a report on the study of history in American schools. “Students in U.S. classrooms,” says Education Week, “are startlingly ignorant of American history, but it’s not because their teachers have failed them. It’s because the curriculum in most schools focuses on memorizing ‘irrelevant, boring’ names and dates, according to a [recent] study.” The report the article refers to, “Reimagining American History Education,” was, Read more…

By Martin Cothran, ago

An Unexpected Gift

Coram Deo Classical School was founded in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, in May of 2015 as a ministry of Second Baptist Church, where classes currently meet. The school opened its doors to nineteen Jr. K-3rd grade students in August of 2016. Now in its third year, and with an enrollment of fifty-two, the school has outgrown its facility. Coram Deo’s board discussed early on what it might have to do if it outgrew the church’s facility. Read more…

By Martin Cothran, ago

Gravitas In Education

by Chad Lawrence This past February my wife Wendy and I had the awesome opportunity to take a pilgrimage to Israel. It was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream to walk the land of the Scriptures and was deeply challenging and deeply refreshing. Though not quite on that same scale, I have come to look forward to what has become an annual pilgrimage of sorts to the Highlands Latin School and the Memoria Press Conference. Read more…

By Martin Cothran, ago

Education with Christianity Baked In

by Martin Cothran The people closest to me know of my affinity for a good doughnut. My actual consumption has necessarily declined in recent years, but, curiously, the decline in my consumption of doughnuts has not affected my desire for them. It is one of those unfortunate realities of life. The lady at the doughnut shop that I frequent (my Personal Doughnut Consultant) can tell you that I like two kinds of doughnuts: apple fritters Read more…

By Martin Cothran, ago

A Christmas Fairy Tale

Don’t miss Memoria Press’ Christmas article “A Christmas Fairy Tale“: There are people who believe that the story at the center of Christmas—that a virgin conceived and bore the Son of God—is a myth or a fairy tale. And they are right. It is. In his book The Everlasting Man, G. K. Chesterton points out that the ancients (at least those who were not privy to divine revelation) employed two approaches to reality: The first Read more…

By Martin Cothran, ago

When it comes to moral education, the newest thing isn’t necessarily the best

Shane Saxon, with some insights on how to teach virtue in a world that makes it hard to teach: In The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis summarizes the heart of classical education: “Augustine defines virtue as ordo amoris, the ordinate condition of the affections in which every object is accorded that kind and degree of love which is appropriate to it. Aristotle says that the aim of education is to make the pupil like and dislike what Read more…

By Martin Cothran, ago

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