Veritas Academy

10/30/2026

https://www.facebook.com/reel/864676862655934/?fs=e&fs=e

10/18/2026

I had the pleasure of taking our student ambassadors to serve at the annual Minnesota Classical Educators Conference last Thursday. One of the highlights of my day was breakfast with our students. I thoroughly enjoyed our meaningful conversations and was impressed by their maturity, thoughtfulness, and leadership. What a joy to see these qualities developing in our young people!

As for the conference itself, one of my favorite workshops was Cultivating Mathematical Thinkers. I came away with some fresh ideas for developing reasoning skills through mathematical practice. There is always more to learn, even as educators!

10/06/2026

David Hicks wrote that it is better to teach fewer things thoroughly than to move students along while “destroying his standards, obscuring the nature of mastery, and concealing the measure of his ignorance.”

That is why promotion from one level to the next must mean something.

— David Hicks quote from Norms & Nobility

Professors at UC Berkeley have been raising concerns about students arriving on campus without the mathematical foundations expected for college-level work.

And some of the gaps aren't small.

Faculty have described students struggling with material normally learned years earlier, including fractions and basic algebra. Berkeley has even introduced additional foundational math instruction to help students who aren't ready for the courses their college education requires.

But this raises a much bigger question about what happens BEFORE college.

How does a student move through middle school and high school, earn passing grades, graduate, and gain admission to a highly selective university while still carrying significant gaps in fundamental math?

At some point, we have to ask whether moving students forward is being confused with actually preparing them to move forward.

Grades should mean something.

A diploma should mean something.

Completing a course should mean a student has demonstrated a reasonable understanding of what that course was supposed to teach.

Because when gaps are repeatedly carried into the next grade, they don't disappear.

They compound.

And eventually, someone has to confront them.

This isn't about blaming students or individual teachers. There are serious questions about pandemic learning loss, grading practices, curriculum, attendance, technology, academic integrity, support at home, and whether schools have enough freedom and resources to intervene when students fall behind.

But whatever the causes, universities shouldn't be the first place we discover that a student never mastered the fundamentals.

Something has gone seriously wrong when students can reach college before anyone addresses gaps in basic math.

If students can progress all the way from middle school to college without mastering basic math, where is the system failing to catch them, and why is it happening?

10/04/2026

This story makes me sad.

In a recent Fox News article, a parent shared that a college student was so anxious about public speaking that, in high school, she sometimes missed school when speaking was required. Now she is in a college class where every student is expected to participate in discussion every time.

Speaking in front of others, participating in a discussion, articulating an idea, listening and responding, and respectfully disagreeing are learned skills. Like most skills, confidence grows with practice and experience. I wonder how much of what we sometimes see as anxiety is simply a young person being asked to do something they have never really been taught or given enough opportunities to practice.

That is why we start them young at Veritas. The photos here are of our kindergarten students giving speeches. We begin in preschool with simple recitations and continue through speeches, Socratic circles, discussions and debates, culminating in a 20–25 minute senior thesis defense.

Confidence grows with practice.
See the full Fox News story here:

https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/more-gen-z-college-freshmen-quitting-school-early-moving-back-mom-dad

09/22/2026

This greeted me this morning as I pulled out of my garage and into the driveway, ready for another day of cultivating wisdom and virtue. Upper school math followed by Rhetoric II are on my agenda, and I am particularly excited to hear the thoughts and topics these highly opinionated high schoolers have in mind for their thesis writing.

But just like that, my lesson-planning mode is interrupted by this genuinely spectacular sky.

To God, this is just another day, another splash from His paintbrush, but to me, I can hardly find adequate words. A vast layer of rippled clouds stretched across the sky, their dark undersides suddenly set ablaze by the rising sun, deep reds, brilliant oranges, and streaks of coral against the softer blue and gold of morning. For a few fleeting minutes, the whole sky seems to be on fire.

We talk about truth, goodness, and beauty as though they are things we must teach, and of course we do. But then there are mornings like this, when beauty simply announces itself and our task is not to explain it, but to notice it.

Perhaps there is a lesson here for my day after all. Before I ask students to solve an equation, wrestle with an idea, develop a thesis, or choose their words carefully, I want them to become people capable of paying attention, people who can recognize what is true, love what is good, and still be stopped in their tracks by what is beautiful.

This morning, before I teach a single lesson, God has given me one.

09/17/2026

Teaching classically in a brave new world.

We are raising a generation with unprecedented access to information, yet increasingly disconnected from the habits of thought, judgment, and understanding that have stood the test of time.

Preparing educators to teach classically is more important than ever. In a culture shaped by instant gratification, classical teaching can awaken curiosity, cultivate wisdom and virtue, and reignite a genuine love of learning.

09/05/2026

Fortitude is not learned from avoiding the battle. It is forged in it. Our battle scars have prepared us to teach our students what it means to stand with courage, perseverance, and faith, and we enter this new school year battle-tested, armed, and ready for whatever lies ahead.

Grounded in Truth. Guided by Wisdom. Marked by Virtue.

09/02/2026

What does it mean to set your child up for life? It means looking ahead, and helping them see what’s possible.

Give them a strong foundation at Veritas. Challenge them to aim high. Put people and possibilities in front of them.

Our partnership with MIT’s calculus team gives Veritas students the support they need while opening their eyes to what may be possible for them.

“Start children off on the way they should go…” — Proverbs 22:6

04/11/2026

It’s that time of year again! Our macroeconomics policy debates are officially underway, and it’s something I look forward to every year.

In this process, students demonstrate their understanding of macroeconomic principles and concepts, apply the logic skills they have learned to build strong and sound arguments, and put their rhetoric training on display in the delivery of those arguments.

Four weeks.
Four policies.
One winner of:

The Cicero Award for Eloquence and Wisdom

The award is named after Marcus Tullius Cicero, the Roman orator who believed that eloquence without wisdom is dangerous, and wisdom without eloquence is inefficient.

This award is given to the debater who best combines persuasive rhetoric with sound, logical, and truthful arguments.

I am so proud of these students and look forward to this every year.