HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully Alive

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 handling of creative problems. Chapters: 3:19 Defining automaticity, creativity 7:09 The automatic enables the creative 15:14 Returning to basics, overcoming boredom 19:14 Struggle and humility bear fruit 24:05 Mastery and the intrinsic payoff 27:24 Model delight in your subject 35:13 With low standards, high expectations 42:25 The goals of homework 47:58 Cover less material, emphasize process 55:45 Letting them work it out Links: Automaticity and Creativity by David Maxham Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton (see chapter 4, "The Ethics of Elfland") Just Tell Them: The Power of Explanation and Explicit Teaching by Zach Groshnell The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kids' Learning—And How to Help Them Thrive Again by Jared Cooney Horvath Also on the Forum: Classroom Habits of Attention in the Age of AI featuring Andrew Cantarutti Mathematics: The Lost Liberal Art featuring Dave Maxham The Math Problem: Tackling the "I'm Terrible at Math" Mentality featuring Dave Maxham Featured Opportunities: Parents' Conference at The Heights School (April 25, 2026) – link coming soon The Art of Teaching Boys Conference at The Heights School (May 6-8, 2026) – waitlist Teaching Essentials Workshop at The Heights School (June 22-26, 2026) Convivium Conference for Teaching Men at The Heights School (November 2026)

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 frenetic patterns with quiet, contemplative patterns for our own mental management, so that we can be available to the boy who needs us at unexpected times. Chapters: 1:35 Middle school's rough reputation 6:39 A boy in search of his role 9:30 Attention shouldn't be sourced in worry 11:44 How to trust the boy 22:54 A family culture of availability 26:27 Parenting spectrum: from buddy to manager 28:57 The golden mean: accompaniment 31:13 Quiet patterns over frenetic ones 42:28 How to deliver advice Also on the Forum: Parenting: Patience or Optimism featuring Andrew Reed There Is No Manual by Alvaro de Vicente What Parents and Teachers Need to Know about The Male Brain by Dr. Joseph Lanzilotti Educating Leaders with Thomas More featuring Dr. Stephen Smith Featured Opportunities: Parents' Conference at The Heights School (April 25, 2026) – link coming soon The Art of Teaching Boys Conference at The Heights School (May 6-8, 2026) – waitlist Teaching Essentials Workshop at The Heights School (June 22-26, 2026) Convivium Conference for Teaching Men at The Heights School (November 2026) – link coming soon

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 passionate detail, he also lays out how a school can cultivate the habits of attention by its curriculum, pedagogy, character, and even the physical school building. Chapters: 3:05 Cantarutti's background 5:27 The lay of the digital land in education 8:38 Attention: a capacity that can grow—and shrink 12:35 A school's mission and the habits of attention 20:08 School schedules, school spaces 23:35 Four cognitive skills for your lesson plans 34:14 The research on AI and education 38:47 Teachers' AI use 43:26 Constructive ways to engage with AI 50:47 Whether you can teach critical thinking 53:26 Promises of AI vs. the goals of education 58:05 Rethinking the structure of class time Links: The Walled Garden, Andrew Cantarutti's Substack Students in an AI World: Prosper, Prepare, Protect, Brookings Institute report, January 14, 2026 Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt in Essay Writing, MIT Media Lab, June 10, 2025 Instructional Illusions by Paul Kirschner, Carl Hendrick, and Jim Heal The Film Students Who Can No Longer Sit Through Films, The Atlantic, January 30, 2026 Alpha School: AI-Driven Education Coming to a School Near You, The New York Times, July 27, 2025 Also on the Forum: ChatGPT Holds These Truths to be Self-Evident by Mark Grannis AI and the Take-Home Essay featuring Dr. Matthew Mehan The Freedom to Form Bonds: Mindfulness and Attention featuring Kevin Majeres Digital Minimalism: Creating a Philosophy of Personal Technology Use featuring Cal Newport Featured Opportunities: The Art of Teaching Boys Conference at The Heights School (May 6-8, 2026) – waitlist Teaching Essentials Workshop at The Heights School (June 22-26, 2026) Convivium Conference for Teaching Men at The Heights School (November 2026) – link coming soon

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 how to engage students, express expectations, correct without disruption, and love your students by using your voice with intention. Chapters: 3:11 The humanity of voice 5:14 The science of volume and pitch 6:56 Your reading and teaching voice 9:04 Speech as love, not punishment 10:46 Voice for humor and engagement 13:54 All the advantages of spoken word 16:25 A unique, live meeting of minds 20:26 Control without yelling 27:05 Enjoying your students 30:17 Song and poetry in the classroom 33:04 The value of the voice in-person Links: Teaching the History of Our "Strange New World": The History of Western Thought Course featuring Austin Hatch and Michael Moynihan Also on the Forum: The Ritual of Reading in the Classroom featuring Tom Steenson Classroom Ambience by Joseph Bissex Classroom Tone and Culture featuring Tom Steenson Featured Opportunities: The Art of Teaching Boys Conference at The Heights School (May 6-8, 2026) – waitlist Teaching Essentials Workshop at The Heights School (June 22-26, 2026) Convivium Conference for Teaching Men at The Heights School (November 2026) – link coming soon

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 partnership with your children's school; what it really means to the "primary educators"; how a school can be compatible with that philosophy; and the importance of parent friendships. Chapters: 2:56 Entering a school partnership wisely 6:50 Entering the partnership fully 11:57 Parents' task: formation of the whole person 14:06 Ask what the teachers see 15:18 Match school culture with home culture 17:23 Your child's friendships 20:44 Parent friendships 26:39 Parent-teacher collaboration 32:04 When to pick up the phone, and the "conspiracy for good" Also on the Forum: Building Parent-Teacher Rapport featuring Kyle Blackmer On Home as Social Hub: The Importance of Hosting Our Sons and Their Friends featuring Tom Royals Family Culture featuring Alvaro de Vicente Creating a Culture of Learning in the Home by Alvaro de Vicente Parents as Primary Educators by Michael Moynihan Ways to Foster a Family Culture by Alvaro de Vicente

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-director for the Center for Thomas More Studies. St. Thomas More not only provided a robust theory of education and duty in his writings, but also a praxis of that education by his heroic actions at the Tower of London in 1535. Dr. Smith joins us this week to discuss how More's life and education can be a pattern for our one-day leading citizens. Chapters: 2:32 The living image of a great man 8:49 More's philosophy of learning 12:50 Virtue in the first place 16:25 Love of good advice 18:48 Leading citizenship: skill and integrity 24:51 Pride as the enemy 29:32 On modern times: "Do not abandon the ship" 35:14 Mentorship: time and attention 46:39 Hope and humor 54:21 Thomas More as a father Links: The Center for Thomas More Studies, featuring video courses, teaching resources, and the written works of Thomas More The Last Riddle: Advice on Living and Dying Well by Stephen Smith, pre-order for June 2026 The Essential Works of Thomas More edited by Gerard Wegemer and Stephen Smith A Thomas More Sourcebook edited by Gerard Wegemer and Stephen Smith On Duties by Cicero Thomas More: A Portrait of Courage by Gerard Wegemer "Letter to William Gonell, 1518" by Thomas More Young Thomas More and the Arts of Liberty by Gerard Wegemer "A Dialog of Comfort against Tribulation" by Thomas More "Erasmus on Thomas More" by Erasmus Also on the Forum: Elon Musk and Mother Teresa Schools by Nate Gadiano Teaching the History of our "Strange New World" featuring Michael Moynihan and Austin Hatch Learning for All Seasons: What We Owe to Thomas More by Dr. Matthew Mehan The Arts of Liberty – Part I featuring Dr. Matthew Mehan Featured Opportunities: The Art of Teaching Boys Conference at The Heights School (May 6-8, 2026) – sold out Teaching Essentials Workshop at The Heights School (June 22-26, 2026) Conference for Teaching Men at The Heights School (November 2026) – link coming soon

"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 relationship with faith. Chapters: 3:19 Inviting boys deeper into their faith 8:17 A religion teacher has to pray 9:16 Following student questions 11:27 Charity: respecting parents' moral authority 12:32 Clarity: commitment to the truth 13:28 Avoiding relativism 17:17 Emphasizing essential questions 18:37 Persuasive common ground 25:21 Seeing the familiar as if for the first time 27:30 One, holy, catholic, and apostolic 31:45 When a student's life situation conflicts with the Catechism 37:59 Loving the job Links: The Everlasting Man by G. K. Chesterton (seeing something familiar as if for the first time) Becoming Greece, textbook by Bill Dardis and Tom Cox Becoming Rome, textbook by Bill Dardis and Tom Cox Also on the Forum: Forming Men of Faith by Alvaro de Vicente Pope Benedict XVI and Catholic Education: On the Adventure of Truth featuring Dr. Joseph Lanzilotti Leaving Room for the Holy Spirit by Mark Grannis "The Talk": On the Role of Schools and Fathers featuring Michael Moynihan Featured Opportunities: Fathers Series for Fathers of Current Students at The Heights School (February 2026) The Art of Teaching Boys Conference at The Heights School (May 6-8, 2026)

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) found his. He goes on to say that helping young people to discover the true Christian purpose of life and then one's personal calling is the missionary work of teachers. Chapters: 00:04:12 Teaching: a missionary field 00:06:15 Crisis of meaning among the young 00:07:35 Crisis of calling among more than the young 00:14:23 Sanctifying ordinary work 00:18:42 The marshmallow experiment: not all it seems 00:24:40 High achievers with no calling 00:27:55 Three tests for goal setting 00:36:12 Four profiles for career trajectory 00:44:31 Success addiction: when love feels conditional 00:48:33 Arrival fallacy: when the goal doesn't satisfy 00:51:34 Posture of submission to find your calling Links: Arthur Brooks: The Science of Happiness, Work & Life, personal website The Meaning of Your Life: Finding Purpose in an Age of Emptiness by Arthur Brooks, pre-order for March 2026 "How to Follow the Right Star" by Arthur Brooks, The Atlantic Also on the Forum: Choosing a College—Or Not featuring Alvaro de Vicente Rethinking College: Why go? How? When? featuring Arthur Brooks Featured Opportunities: The Art of Teaching Boys Conference at The Heights School (May 6-8, 2026)

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 order and purpose. Chapters: 4:01 Typical family operations 9:09 Frantic families in a frantic world 14:36 What makes your family unique? 21:57 Parent leadership 26:02 What is your family's top priority right now? 32:30 "Priority" shouldn't be plural 36:52 Long-standing objectives 38:46 Temporary rally cries 39:49 How do you deploy these answers intentionally? 45:22 Staying on track Links: The Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni The Frantic Family Model, family worksheet PDF Also on the Forum: Family Culture featuring Alvaro de Vicente How to Foster a Family Culture in Your Home by Alvaro de Vicente Featured Opportunities: The Art of Teaching Boys Conference at The Heights School (May 6-8, 2026)

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 communicates security to our children. When we do our job well, they can live with confidence. In his talk from the Fatherhood Conference last fall, Colin identified five battlegrounds for establishing this kind of security, most of which are in our own homes. Also on the Forum: The Father as a Guide to the World featuring Michael Moynihan The Father as Presence featuring Andrew Reed Featured Opportunities: The Art of Teaching Boys Conference at The Heights School (May 6-8, 2026)