← Hillsdale College K-12 Classical Education Podcast
Hillsdale College K-12 Classical Education Podcast
Leading Pineapple Cove Classical Academies
00:11:39
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- [00:00]
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Hello America. I'm thrilled, thrilled to announce my new 10 part podcast series, Liberty and Learning with Mark Levin and Larry Arne. Join me and my dear friend Dr. Larry Arne, President of Hillsdale College, as we dive deep into the founding principles of our great nation. In these challenging times, understanding our history and the ideals of self government is more crucial than ever. We'll explore the core of America's current crises, the changes in our government and what it means for our lives and liberties. From education to borders, citizenship to the separation of powers will cover it all. Tune in to Liberty and Learning with Mark Levin and Larry Arn of Hillsdale College. So subscribe now and join us on this wonderful journey to rediscover the principles that made America the freest, most prosperous nation in history. Don't miss it.
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Listen right now to Liberty and Learning with Mark Levin and Larry Arne at podcast hillsdale.edu. that's podcast hillsdale or wherever you find your audio.
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Welcome to The Hillsdale College K12 classical education podcast, bringing you insight into classical education and its unique emphasis on human virtue and moral character, responsible citizenship, content, rich curricula and teacher led classrooms. Now your host, Scott Bertram.
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We continue a series of episodes from presentations delivered at Hoagland center for Teacher Excellence Seminars. The Hoagland center for Teacher Excellence, an outreach of The Hillsdale College K12 education office, offers educators the opportunity to deepen their content knowledge and refine their skills in the classroom. These one day conferences are hosted during the academic year in cities across the nation and feature presentations by Hillsdale College faculty, K12 office staff and leaders in the Hillsdale Network of member Schools. There is no cost to attend and attendees may earn professional development credits. Currently, the Hoagland center is hosting a series exploring the art of teaching a variety of subjects. To learn more about upcoming events, Visit our website k12 hillsdale.edu.
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Good afternoon again. I'm Dr. Kelly Gunter. I am the Director of School Operations for the Pineapple Cove Classical Academy family of schools in Brevard county right here in Central Florida. I'm the lunch speaker, which is kind of always an interesting place to be, But I'm glad Ms. King didn't put me between you and a well deserved meal, so I'm thankful for that. Right? Pineapple Cove, Classical Academy and Classical Education Management, which is our management group, operate three high performing schools in Brevard county, two of which are member schools with the Hillsdale College K12 education office and our third school is a candidate member school. Our Palm Bay school was one of the first dozen Hillsdale affiliated member schools in the nation, and it's celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, so that we are extraordinarily proud of that. We employ over 300 faculty and staff, serve over 2,600 students, and our wait lists number close to 4,000 students in totality. I say those numbers not to be a braggart, but to help provide context for the demand for classical education in this area in particular. We are thankful that in Florida we have a governor and a legislature that support what we do extraordinarily. They are very supportive. And we are actually the only state, to my knowledge, currently, that has a classical educators teaching certificate where our teachers can add classical education to their teaching certificate, and it allows them to teach multiple subjects across multiple disciplines without additional testing, bureaucracy, and coursework. So, for background purposes, my entire educational career to this point was progressively focused. I completed traditional teacher preparation programs at both the bachelor's and master's levels, taught in Title 1 classrooms for 10 years. And although I desperately love teaching, I couldn't help but feel that there were large gaps in what I knew to be good for children and what I was tasked with teaching every day. And so these feelings of inadequacy followed me as I went to a career teaching at the local community college. And in this community college, many students have completed 13 years of public education. They have a state of Florida high school diploma, but they often could not read at a high school level, and they often did not know their multiplication facts, let alone algebraic concepts. So in late 2012, a businessman named John Moran parked himself outside my office at the local college where I worked, and I taught English and pre service education courses here, and he wouldn't leave. And after assuring campus security, who was very concerned at this point that he was probably not a threat and that they could leave him be, we chatted briefly about his goals. Mr. Moran owned a very successful preschool in our county, and through a mutual friend, he learned my name as the possible educator who could balance his business acumen and help bring a classical charter school to Brevard County. He gave me his phone number, promised to be in touch, and told me in no uncertain terms that it would be fun. So as I met with the Moran family and we kind of solidified this task of writing this charter application, I dove headfirst into research and reading, devouring all I could about classical education. Many of these ideas challenged what I was taught in my traditional teacher preparation program, but it ignited a desire to see what I was reading come to life. And so when we opened our first campus in 2015. As principal, I had one mantra that guided my decisions and helped to shape what continues to be part of our mission and vision. We do what is good for kids. It sounds overly simplistic, probably a bit naive, but in reality, doing what's good for kids in 2025 takes many of the virtues that we instill in our honesty, perseverance, courage and self government. Doing what is right for students is not generally the easiest route, it is often not the cheapest solution, and it is often not the expedient road, the courage and work ethic that it takes to do the hard things and maintain an atmosphere where all stakeholders see the value in what we're doing and consistently choose to tackle the hard things anyway. That's an incredible team to lead. So what specifically about classical schools make them so special and why the resurgence in a type of schooling that can seem antiquated to some or antithetical to the norms of what we see in a 21st century society? First, I want to tell you that students in classical schools are learning as great minds learned for centuries. Many schools and educators will tell you that they aim to teach students to think critically, but they often struggle to explain what that actually means. As classical school leaders and teachers, we believe that you cannot truly think critically unless you have the facts and a basis of common knowledge upon which to think. I want to hearken back to Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. At two minutes long, this address, comprised of only 10 sentences and 272 words, still resonates today as one of the most famous and memorable speeches in modern history. Lincoln was speaking to an audience that was very unlikely to have a college or even high school level education. But he simultaneously alludes to biblical idioms, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and Pericles funeral oration. He doesn't pre teach these concepts prior to his speech. Modern schools might call this activating prior knowledge, but he rightly assumes, based on the common schooling at the time, that the public in front of him possessed a basis of knowledge common among all men and a knowledge of the shared history of our country that required no additional explanation. I fear this speech, given for the first time today, would elude understanding for some. Would they know what happened four score and seven years before Lincoln's speech? Do they hear echoes of the Preamble to the Constitution when Lincoln references a government of the people, by the people, and for the people? The other thing classical schools do really well is develop a love of learning. As classical school leaders, we sometimes hear the criticism that classical school education is too rigorous. It is rigorous, as many worthwhile things are. But the aim of classical education is mastery, not perfection. There's a pride that develops in students when they master a difficult topic, but there's also a lesson when they don't. And one of the consistent ways classical schools develop a love of learning is through storytelling. Great classical school teachers are excellent storytellers. This means that content is presented in a way that asks great questions and inspires even more. The Searcy Institute succinctly describes this method of using classical works of art, written poetic, visual, to engage students with truth and beauty. We rehumanize science and math with a historical narrative. And we use great stories to capture students attention and to compel them to investigate further. Most importantly, our teachers love of topics and great books is evident in their teaching and their contagious enthusiasm for the topics we teach. Classical school students also learn to connect the dots with history as a framework. They read entire novels rather than pared down anthologies. And they engage with literature that complements the historical period they are studying. The connection students can make when fully engaged with a topic or period of history is incredible. My daughter Addison is a fourth grader at our West Melbourne school. She's a naturally curious child, which is both fun to watch and, if I'm honest, incredibly exhausting. She absolutely loves history and was particularly enamored with the story of the American Revolution in fourth grade. She loves music as well, and so I began introducing her to some of the songs from the Broadway play Hamilton. And as we're sitting in the car, there's a line in one of the songs where Eliza Hamilton laments, referring of course to Alexander Hamilton himself, that she has married an Icarus and he has flown too close to the sun. As Addison is humming along, I see her stop and her eyes go wide. I know that story. She said Icarus and Daedalus. We learned that in third grade. Icarus dies because he's too ambitious. Wait, is she saying that Hamilton was too ambitious? I have so many questions, and if you spend any time around nine year old girls, you know that was a verbatim retelling of the conversation. But how amazing is that? In my mind, all children deserve the opportunity to experience those aha moments, which begets a recursive cycle of wanting to learn more. And finally, classical schools are a respite from the technology focused classrooms found in many schools. There are very few always and nevers when you work with children, but in our schools you will never see us place a student in front of a computer program and call it instruction. Children learn from human beings and we do not provide students a one to one device. When marketing our schools early on, parents would often ask us these questions and my response was often the same. Do we feel like this generation needs more technology? Do we feel like they're missing technological skills? And what good is a computer programming class if students have yet to master mathematical concepts? If you ask any excellent teacher if they feel the addition of one to one Chromebooks for each student has been a compliment to their classroom or a detriment, you may be surprised or not by their answer. So if you ask me why I lead a classical school, it's not truly a difficult question to answer. A classical school is a vibrant community of administrators, teachers, staff, and students centered around truth, beauty, and goodness. We work hard to instill good habits, exemplify virtue, and build a culture of learning that transcends childhood. The evidence of what we do is woven into the fabric of our school from top to bottom. And to watch students grow from 5 year olds learning their phonograms to seniors defending a senior thesis is a privilege unlike any other. And as Mr. Moran promised, it is absolutely fun.
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If you enjoyed this lecture, we encourage you to Visit our website, k12hillsdale.edu for additional information on upcoming Giving Hoagland center events and other free resources for educators.