This age of AI puts a spotlight on the differentiated power of "thinking well." But the best way to teach students to think well is counterintuitive: we have to be willing to make mistakes. Students and teachers alike will have to get comfortable with the idea of mistakes as part of the journey toward critical engagement.

In this week's episode, music teacher Pat Love and middle school teacher Shane O'Neill liken education to good jazz. Students absorb the traditions, imitate the masters, try to make it their own, and learn by trial and error under a trusted guide.

2:37 The jazz and education analogy
7:50 Making space in the classroom to try—and fail
9:46 Teacher habits for student agency
15:21 Tests, assignments, seminars
18:54 The educative power of imitation
22:42 Grades, and when a kid is "playing scared"
27:43 Turning correction into learning
31:07 Fewer one-right-answers
37:06 Drawing out participation
41:48 Transmitting a culture, not just a subject
43:58 Addressing philosophical mistakes

The Risk of Education: Discovering Our Ultimate Destiny by Luigi Giussani

The Art and Act of Knowing—and What It Means for Teaching featuring Dr. Jonathan Buttaci

Educating Boys: Nature, Risk, and the Making of Men by Dr. Joseph Lanzilotti

Teaching Sovereign Knowers Series by Michael Moynihan

Fall Open House at The Heights School (October 24, 2026)

Fatherhood Conference at The Heights School (November 7, 2026)

Convivium Conference for Teaching Men at The Heights School (November 11-13, 2026)

Admittedly, today's world is far from the Garden where the world began.

If we think of our vocations as "recovering the Garden," we may wonder whether it is best to go out into the world with a missionary spirit or retreat to morally safer spaces and protect the flame. Which has the better impact on the world and our families? Can one go into the world and not lose his soul? And what does the world really need from us?

In his annual Headmaster's Lecture, Alvaro de Vicente encourages us to encounter the world with Christian confidence. We win it back through our families and professional work—and we should prepare our sons to do the same. For, Mr. de Vicente argues, there is no tension here: going into the world to serve with a Christian spirit is good for the world and good for the man.

3:52 Our sons going into the world
6:11 The world: God's gift to man
13:15 Sin: breaking the gift
18:32 Christ: redemption of the gift
20:42 Evil resides where good leaves
28:81 Winning back the world
30:12 How the Church views worldly professions
39:56 What work is for
42:30 The limits of "good" work
48:19 Good work is formative
50:22 Encouraging the next generation

"Chapter V: The Manners of the Christians" in Epistle to Diognetus by Mathetes

Forty Gospel Homilies by Pope St. Gregory the Great

The Way of the Cross by St. Josemaría Escrivá

Gaudium et Spes pastoral constitution by the Second Vatican Council

The World Needs Your Son to Be Professionally Ambitious by Alvaro de Vicente

Elon Musk, Mother Teresa, and Why Catholic Schools Should Be Secular by Nate Gadiano

Fall Open House at The Heights School (October 24, 2026)

Fatherhood Conference at The Heights School (November 7, 2026)

Convivium Conference for Teaching Men at The Heights School (November 11-13, 2026)

This fall marks the 25th anniversary of the institution of the Heights Clans. These competitive bodies engage in festivity six days a year, including two full Clan Days every All Saints Day and Feast of the Annunciation. This participates in the rich liturgical and intellectual traditions of authentic feasting, using the building blocks of worship, arts, food, and games.

Today on HeightsCast, middle school teacher and clans gamemaster/meister Kyle Blackmer explores why a school—or any community—should consider a commitment to these rituals of festival.

4:28 Pieper's definition of festival
7:33 Each festival unique to its place
9:01 Heights Clan Days
15:03 Why feasting is important
20:43 Connecting a student body
22:19 A liturgical basis
24:28 Preparation: the fast before the feast
28:21 Practical challenges to festival

The Heights Student Life: Clans, containing more information about our four clans and clan festival days

In Tune with the World: A Theory of Festivity by Josef Pieper

"The Immortal Power of Astonishment and Laughter" by G. K. Chesterton

Around the Year with the von Trapp Family by Maria von Trapp

The Life of Christ by Fulton Sheen

In Defense of Victory by Kyle Blackmer

Headmaster's Lecture at The Heights School (October 3, 2026)

Fall Open House at The Heights School (October 24, 2026)

Fatherhood Conference at The Heights School (November 7, 2026)

Convivium Conference for Teaching Men at The Heights School (November 11-13, 2026)