St. Thomas More Academy Podcast

Deacon Brad Watkins, Dr. Jake Noland, Mr. Charles McCants, and Mr. Rob Kirkendall continue discussing the idea of "Classical Education," and our collective reflections on what it is and isn't from years of experience. Part two of a two part conversation. 

Deacon Brad Watkins, Dr. Jake Noland, Mr. Charles McCants, and Mr. Rob Kirkendall discuss the idea of "Classical Education," and our collective reflections on what it is and isn't from years of experience. Part one of a two part conversation. 

After a four month (unplanned) hiatus, Deacon Brad Watkins, Dr. Jake Noland, and Mr. Charles McCants dust off the podcast equipment and talk about Purpose and Care. 

As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving as a nation, Deacon Brad Watkins, Dr. Jake Noland, and Mr. Charles McCants discuss the virtue of gratitude.  Short video with the voice of Br. David Steindl-Rast on gratefulness. 

In this episode, Deacon Brad Watkins, Dr. Jake Noland, and Mr. Charles McCants try something a little different. Before recording we each listed what we believe are five attributes of outstanding students - those all around 95th percentile students we've had the pleausre of working with over our careers in education and formation. During the episode we share our attributes and why we think they're important.  Book mentioned in the podcast- The Attributes: 25 Hidden Drivers of Optimal Performance.

Deacon Brad Watkins, Dr. Jake Noland, and Mr. Charles McCants are joined today by Mr. Bob Luddy, Founder and Chairman of STMA, for a conversation about culture, standards, and integrity among other points of discussion. We remain ever grateful for Mr. Luddy's vision, leadership, and tremendous generosity in support of our mission at STMA, as well as his ongoing efforts aimed at the restoration of culture and the education/formation of young people to the greater glory of God. 

In this episode, Deacon Brad Watkins, Dr. Jake Noland, and Mr. Charles McCants discuss the topic of self-discipline as it relates to student outcomes. 

In this episode, Deacon Brad Watkins, Dr. Jake Noland, and Mr. Charles McCants discuss the topic of Holy Obedience as it relates to our faith and lives, especially in connection to the young people we are working to form to the greater glory of God. 

This episode features the story of Joseph Dutton, an American veteran who spent the last half of his life working with leprosy patients in Molokai, Hawaii. This lecture by Ms. Adriana Watkins was given to students at STMA in April 2023. Dutton’s life is a beautiful example of the way God’s Providence follows us through strange turns of fate, and even through our own mistakes.   Some very helpful resources made this lecture possible, including:   The Joseph Dutton Guild’s reissuing of an old Dutton biography:  https://www.josephdutton.org/product-page/dutton-prayer-card-1   “The Soul of Kalaupapa,” a documentary about the colony:  https://vimeo.com/113259515   A collection of the only few of Dutton’s letters available online:  https://www.jstor.org/stable/44209102?seq=3"

In this episode, Deacon Brad Watkins, Dr. Jake Noland, and Mr. Charles McCants shift the discussion from Boys Adrift to the topic of girls and young women as related to Dr. Leonard Sax's book, Girls on the Edge: Why So Many Girls Are Anxious, Wired, and Obsessed - and What Parents Can Do. A main point of emphasis for this conversation is the high levels of "anxiety" we see every year in a small number of female students over the years. The students themselves were usually at a loss for the precise cause for their anxiety. Parents and therapists were also unable to offer clues. Or hope is that this conversation might offer some helpful insights we have gleened from years of working with students.   We also mentioned another helpful podcast episode: Art of Manliness: Generations - The Surprising Truths and Persistent Myths

Apologies, for some reason the recording of this podcast cut off at the 33 minute mark, and we didn't realize it until later. In this episode, Deacon Brad Watkins, Dr. Jake Noland, and Mr. Charles McCants continue discussing the topic of boys and young men that struggle (or more appropriately, don't) with positive engagement in life and arrested development. Over the years we've had more than a few conversations with parents about sons that seem to lack any and all motivation to work hard and apply themselves to tasks at hand. It's a difficult topic, because there are no quick and easy solutions. After years of reading, watching, and listening to countless resources on the subject, we are really no closer to "solving" the problem than we were over a decade ago. As we often say, it's more an issue of a death by a thousand little cuts than it is one huge "cut" that would be easier to correct. So while we don't have a simple solution, we have become a little better at assessing the problem and have a few insights ordered to better outcomes. We share our thoughts in this episode which is part 1 of a longer conversation.   Boys Adrift is the title of a book by Dr. Leonard Sax.

In this episode, Deacon Brad Watkins, Dr. Jake Noland, and Mr. Charles McCants discuss the topic of boys and young men that struggle (or more appropriately, don't) with positive engagement in life and arrested development. Over the years we've had more than a few conversations with parents about sons that seem to lack any and all motivation to work hard and apply themselves to tasks at hand. It's a difficult topic, because there are no quick and easy solutions. After years of reading, watching, and listening to countless resources on the subject, we are really no closer to "solving" the problem than we were over a decade ago. As we often say, it's more an issue of a death by a thousand little cuts than it is one huge "cut" that would be easier to correct. So while we don't have a simple solution, we have become a little better at assessing the problem and have a few insights ordered to better outcomes. We share our thoughts in this episode which is part 1 of a longer conversation.   Boys Adrift is the title of a book by Dr. Leonard Sax.

In this episode, Deacon Brad Watkins, Dr. Jake Noland, and Mr. Charles McCants discuss the topic of paying attention. The ability to pay attention is a critical life skill, but not unlike prayer it is one of those things we tell people (especially students) to do, without really explaining how they go about doing it. We share some thoughts on the subject and suggests listeners also download these podcasts on the subject as well: The Heights Forum podcast with Kevin Majeres:        The Freedom to Form Bonds: Kevin Majeres on Mindfulness and Attention                   The Art of Manliness podcast on focus and paying attention:  Podcast #832 The Power of Unwavering Focus 

Deacon Brad Watkins, Dr. Jake Noland, and Mr. Charles McCants sit down for a conversation with STMA Alumnus Deacon John De Guzman ('14) about his time at the Academy, his studies at St. Charles Borromeo College Seminary, and Theological College Seminary at Catholic University of America. Deacon John also discussed his discernment and vocation to the priesthood, offering words of wisdom for others discerning a call to the Priesthood or Religious Life. Please pray for Deacon John and Deacon Erik Reyes as they prepare for their ordination to the Priesthood on Saturday, June 4th at 10:00am at Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral.

In this episode, Deacon Brad Watkins, Dr. Jake Noland, and Charles McCants express gratitude for the wonderful students we get to build relationships with at STMA. 

In this episode, Deacon Brad Watkins, Dr. Jake Noland, and Charles McCants discuss the parent suggested topic of nihilism. We ended up discussing both nihilism and apathy as they are closely related and often overlap.  They are both topics worthy of much longer conversations, but we hope this relatively brief episode might provide some insights to the topic as we see it. Hopefully, this is helpful in thinking about our contemporary culture and the modern world our young people are growing up in. We also hope it might be of some small help for those who struggle with either issue personally or in someone they love. Links below are to the video and article mentioned in the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8IVA_iVofo https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481314954/shows-about-nothing/

In this episode, Deacon Brad Watkins, Dr. Jake Noland, Charles McCants and Adriana Watkins discuss the discernment of gifts and talents. We have all been given unique gifts and talents by Our Lord and are expected to multiply them throughout our lives in who we are called to BE and what we are called to DO. But when we express this to young people it can sometimes be difficult for them to figure out on their own exactly what their talents (or attributes) are in order to multiply them.  We hope this conversation might be of use to everyone as we look for the unique gifts/talents/attributes in our lives that we can use to God's greater glory. 

Deacon Brad Watkins, Dr. Jake Noland, and Mr. Charles McCants sit down for a conversation with STMA Alumnus Andrew Mistele ('18) about his time at the Academy, his studies in Aerospace Engineering at North Carolina State University ('22), and where he's headed after graduation. 

Deacon Brad Watkins, Dr. Jake Noland, and Charles McCants discuss accreditation and the fact that is neither necessary nor a guarantor of excellence in schools. It is commonly held that "Schools must be accredited." But who says, and what is accreditation? What does it do? What are its limitations? We've heard people say, "You can't get into to college if you go to a school that isn't accredited." And yet, STMA, which has never even sought accreditation, has a 100% college placement record over 20 years. Every graduate has successfully placed into four year colleges, including some of the most selective in the country. Add to this the number of homeschool students that go to schools like Harvard and Princeton every year, and it's easy to see that a statement like that is false on its face. More to the point, there are thousands of schools in the United States that are accredited, but truly terrible schools. So in today's episode we take a deeper dive into the myth of accreditation. 

Deacon Brad Watkins, Dr. Jake Noland, Charles McCants and Kelly Jackson discuss work ethic as it relates to being a student with good academic outcomes. As teachers and administrators an ongoing challenge is trying to understand why some otherwise very good students don't seem to get the grade outcomes the (or their parents) hope for at the end of term. But when we look closely at those students that earn top outcomes, we see a consistent attribute: a strong work ethic.  In this episode, we discuss what that looks like with a fundamental understanding that learning is not about mindless passive consumption, but proactive, positive engagement and hardworking in class and outside of class when studying. Put more simply, students with the best outcomes are almost always mindful proactive producers. But a real challenge in our modern world is that countless media corporations are doing everything in their power to make passive consumption as effortless as possible, and a lot of their energy is directed at our young people.