In the opening paragraph of his Confessions, St. Augustine writes, “our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”  For many, the first half of this famous line is a well-known feeling; it is, in many ways, “the feeling of actual life,” to put it in Hemingway’s own terms. Indeed, there lives deep down a desire in all of our hearts for some mysterious reality — a green light across the bay — which seems to forever escape our grasp. Many are dreamers; fewer have found an object worthy...

We are a liberal arts school, but we embrace contemporary literature that leads our students to the good, the true, and the beautiful. Not all of it does, though. And, even those moderns that are positively formational often do so by leaning, in some way, on the older great authors of the older great books.  To fully appreciate the new, you must be familiar with the old. Contrary to the notion that we are hiding our students from contemporary literature, we are, instead, curating a selection of books–old and new–that enriches...

Dr. Jason Baxter, Academic Dean at Wyoming Catholic College and author of The Beginners Guide to Dante’s Divine Comedy offers his thoughts on how to introduce students to the Divine Comedy.  By forcing the Divine Comedy (and many other “Great Works”) on our boys without the proper groundwork, we risk cheating them of a profound encounter.  But there is value, and this is an introduction worth making.  How do we go about it?  Listen in and follow our guide.

Contemporary children’s literature often celebrates children lying or worse to accomplish “good” ends. As parents of avid readers, we must be aware. Joe Breslin and Tom Cox take on perennial favorite, Harry Potter, which offers, as one of its many strengths, gripping portrayals of flawed heroes.

What is “tragedy”? Actually, it’s not a bad thing happening to a good person. But what, then, is it? Join Dr. Yaceczko and Mr. Mehigan for a conversation about how this ancient art form was used thousands of years ago to prepare generations of heroes for life’s difficult moments. At The Heights, we continue this tradition. Listen in to hear why.

Heights teacher, Joe Breslin, discusses the problems with the contemporary approach to writing, and offers his strategy for raising craftsmen of letters.  By turning your classroom into a workshop, you can engage your boys and train them in the arts of observation and effective communication. Resources Mentioned in Podcast: Joe Breslin’s webinar on The Heights Academy: Writing From the Sentence Up