HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully Alive
The Heights School
Welcome to HeightsCast, the podcast of The Heights School. With over 200 episodes, HeightsCast discusses the education of young men fully alive in the liberal arts tradition. The program engages teachers and thought-leaders in the educational/cultural space to support our community of listeners: parents, teachers, and school leaders seeking to educate the young men in their care. Instead of downloads, HeightsCast's most important metric for success is the unknown number of thoughtful discussions it prompts in homes, faculty lunchrooms, and communities around the country and the world. Thank you for listening; thank you for continuing the conversation.
Episodes
Mentioned books
May 3, 2019 • 38min
Lying to Dumbledore: On Moral Consequentialism in Children's Literature
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.
Mar 29, 2019 • 32min
Decisive Parenting
This week on Heightscast, an interview with Head of Upper School, Michael Moynihan, on his new book, Decisive Parenting. For more information or to purchase Michael's book, click here.
Mar 13, 2019 • 39min
Praise and Affirmation without Flattery
Heights Teacher and Mentor, Alex Berthe, discusses the importance of proper praise in the moral development of boys. Our culture tends towards two extremes: we are either overly critical, or excessively flattering. Alex helps us walk the mean as we guide our sons to a solid confidence in our love for them, and in their rock solid understanding of their identity as sons of God.
Feb 28, 2019 • 34min
Forming Men of Faith
As a community of believing parents and teachers, passing the Faith on to our sons' is mission essential. Heights Headmaster, Alvaro de Vicente, discusses how parents and teachers can model, explain, facilitate, and support the faith of our fathers in the next generation.
Feb 22, 2019 • 32min
The Strategic Enterprise of Upper School Study, a.k.a. "Homework"
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.
Feb 14, 2019 • 46min
Mathematics: The Lost Liberal Art
David Maxham explores the role of Mathematics in a Liberal Arts education. Contrary to popular perception, the Liberal Arts include a robust commitment not only to mathematics, but to a mathematical way of thinking. We don't achieve this for our students, however, simply by slogging through the usual progression of math courses. The mathematical art of liberty must be nurtured, and Dave offers some thoughts on what that looks like here.
Nov 26, 2018 • 25min
"Who am I?": The Question of Persona, Part 2
For Part 1, click here. As boys grow into men they grapple with important questions: "who am I?"; "why am I here?"; "what is my purpose?" Mr. de Vicente takes on the question of persona and identity in the next two episodes of HeightsCast, addressing how we, as parents and teachers, can help our boys develop a healthy sense of self through an ordered process of reflection.
Nov 20, 2018 • 35min
"Who am I?": The Question of Persona
As boys grow into men they grapple with important questions: "who am I?"; "why am I here?"; "what is my purpose?" Mr. de Vicente takes on the question of persona and identity in the next two episodes of HeightsCast, addressing how we, as parents and teachers, can help our boys develop a healthy sense of self through an ordered process of reflection.
Nov 13, 2018 • 48min
On the Healing Powers of Tragedy
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.
Nov 2, 2018 • 30min
On Addressing Character Defects: Thoughts on Tough Love
As teachers, we sometimes succumb to the desire to be liked, or to the fear of being disliked, by our students. This disposition can cost our students one of the greatest benefits an education can offer: being called out for a consistent character flaw. If we don't call these things to our boys' attention, their dominant flaws may go unchecked, only to hurt them more in the long run. Joe Cardenas, Head of Mentoring at The Heights, offers his thoughts on how to show tough love through difficult corrections.
