PictureAs the school year comes to an end, we decided to devote an issue of Beyond the Test to rhetoric, which was often considered the crown of a classical education. In one of our featured articles, I look back to Abraham Lincoln, Pericles, and St. Augustine to get a glimpse of the power of rhetoric. Dr. Alyssan Barnes, author of Rhetoric Alive!,explains the great effects teaching rhetoric has on today’s students. Our Featured Resource is Silva Rhetoricae, a wonderful website for introducing rhetoric.  And we Focus On: Saint Mary’s Catholic High School in Phoenix, which includes a healthy dose of rhetoric in its Seat of Wisdom Integrated Studies Program.[restrict]


The end of the school year means the beginning of our Institute summer programs. In early June, Hillsdale College hosts our first Justin Martyr Fellows Colloquium on education, which will include representatives from Benedictine CollegeThomas More CollegeFranciscan University, and Ave Maria University, among others. Teachers who wish to rekindle their love of learning will want to consider our Academic Retreat for Teachers. Our Spirit and Craft of Teaching Program is ideal for teachers new to liberal arts education. Our Conferences in Denver and Philadelphia will provide great experiences of fellowship among Catholic Classical educators. The summer will wrap up with our first Tuscany Classical Education Symposium, which promises to be a wonderful week of study and immersion in the classical world of Florence and its surroundings.

We thank you for the wonderful work you do in spreading the good news about Catholic education. Please continue to pray for our success. In a particular way, we ask your prayers for Institute Board Member, David Stiennon, who has to undergo a second bone marrow transplant next week.

In Christ,

Andrew T. Seeley
Executive Director
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