Blueletter: October 3, 2008

PARIS, CITY OF LIGHT

Annual Gala Dinner-Dance and Auction.
Our annual Gala has quickly become one of the best celebrations in the region. Over and over again we hear comments such as “these people know how to do it right!”
Please, please, please, let us know of anyone you want us to send an invite to.
So, let us know if we should send an Invitation or Corporate Sponsorship information to anyone - just give us their name and address - we will send immediately. See Flyer AND INVITATION.

—–

St. Thérèse de Lisieux (Trad.)

Dear Families:

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, Dr. S and I were honored to be participants at an educational colloquium in Michigan. Co-sponsored by The Liberty Fund, the Free Enterprise Institute and Center for the American Idea, this seminar was held in the Library and home of the late Russell Kirk and hosted by his widow, Annette. It was a really enriching experience to delve into modern and historical works about the nature of education in a free society with educators from around the country. One particularly enlightening part of the program was a text we were given to read by Jacques Barzun, the great education and cultural historian. I thought I would share bits of that with you today. He has thought and taught extensively on the state of education in America. Being 95 years old, he has seen an awful lot. Being an historian, he has much wisdom of knowledge and comparison. What is a right kind of education? You will find a remarkable similarity between what he says and what St. Augustine Academy teachers have been saying and striving for for years. Maybe our success is not accidental!

“Everybody, I hope, would agree that a school is a place where teaching and learning go on, steadily and systematically. That is its function. Its purpose is something else: to remove ignorance. A school can do several other good things at the same time, but it has one purpose only: to remove ignorance. This distinction is important because these definitions serve as a standard by which to judge what is done and what is proposed in the name of schooling. A half-century’s agitation for reform has thrown into currency so many notions and slogans and started so many trial programs that in the best minds and most earnest hearts, confusion reigns. If it is to be dispelled, much demands our attention.

Removing ignorance is more complicated than removing tonsils, and it is sometimes as painful to the child. A classroom subject is one in which each phase grows out of the one before and builds up from simple to complex, until the student commands a body of organized knowledge. Grammar, arithmetic, plane geometry, algebra, history, geography, physics, chemistry, biology and foreign languages - these are teachable. They are naturally unified by system or by cause and effect. As for reading, writing, composition and literature, which are less systematic, they rely on techniques that are learned by practice. (Thus, these are also important elements of school subjects.) What is wrong with “Social Studies” and other formless subjects is that they are an indefinite mix of fact and ideas gathered from here and there among advanced subjects that are teachable: sociology, psychology, economics, etc… The result of trying to teach a hodgepodge is that it leaves in the mind neither organized information nor clear principle - and it favors sloppy work.”

And, Barzun continues, answering the “real world” education question - “when will I ever use this?”

“the effort of learning difficult subjects develops the talent of learning as such, including learning on the job, where promotion goes to the one with a quick grasp of unfamiliar facts and ideas. Besides, the school has a duty not only to the individual but to society, which is to hand down the treasury of knowledge. Without schools to perform this task, a civilized nation would turn into a mass of illiterate barbarians in thirty years.”

“One more type of instruction should be expected of every teacher in every course: correcting mistakes in English, poor pronunciation, and jumbled thoughts in speech - also demanding legible handwriting. To overlook these from laziness or fear of hurt feelings is the greatest disservice that can be done to the young. The correcting should be done firmly; not incessant nagging, but timely and kindly severity. The power of self-expression satisfies an emotional need in the child and makes for self esteem (properly understood, and achieved.) And articulateness has a cash value in “the real world.”

“The curriculum sketched here is by and large that of the American public school of the 1920’s. The typical American high school of that era graduated young people who deserved to be call educated.”

So too, are the graduates of Saint Augustine Academy EDUCATED!

PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES - Coming up after first quarter report cards. Oct. 31st - Nov.4th. Please fill out the enclosed form if you would like to attend a conference with one or more of your children’s teachers.

CATHOLICS FOR MARRIAGE - PROP 8! There is a great need for volunteers, 700 needed in Ventura County alone, to help promote Prop 8, “Protect Marriage”. We are all busy, but this is one of the core issues for us, (along with Prop 4) as it is about the preservation of the family (and of Life!) Please join me with “Catholics for Protect Marriage” to uphold what God intends and for the future of our children. Jobs vary: getting more volunteers, posting signs, delivering information to parishes, etc. Choose what works for you. Contact me at 577-7522 ASAP - only one month to go! Thank you, Ingrid.

WELCOME!!! The Hanlon Family has joined our St. Augustine Family.
Please make note in your directory right away: (or cut and paste!)

HANLON, PETER AND JANE
(Address and Phone information removed, please see mailers)
COLLEGE NIGHT - The U.S. Military Academies will be our guest presenters this year. We are scheduled for October 23rd at 7:15 PM. All high school students and their parents - especially parents - are invited to attend. Come find out about the Academies AND general college application and testing information from Mr.V and Mrs. F.

APPEAL LETTERS have been sent. Please let us know if you have any friends, relatives (especially grandparents!) or associates who should receive our letters. We can get a letter to them ASAP.

College Note - PSAT testing for Sophomores and Juniors will beheld on Wednesday, October 15th. Start preparing for your test now - especially Juniors!

FINAL WEEK!!! JOG-A-THON - Keep the pledges coming! Turn in envelopes on FRIDAY before the Jog-A-Thon!

VOLLEYBALL - Great Job Girls! 2 wins, 0 losses! Thursday, Oct. 9th @ Our Lady of the Assumption at 3:30 p.m.

St. Augustine’s Annual Oktoberfest! Beer, Brats and Polka! - Come with the family, bring some friends. This is the best Oktoberfest in town. October 18th from 4:00-7:30 PM.

CALENDAR NOTES
RETURN PROGRESS REPORTS

• Oct. 10th JOG-A-THON
• Oct. 13th NO SCHOOL
• Oct. 15th PSAT Testing (10th -11th)
• Oct. 16th College Night (9th -12th)
• Oct. 17th End of First Qtr.
• Oct. 18th Oktoberfest! At SAA

Ora Pro Nobis: We continue to keep all our friends and family in our prayers. Let us pray for one another.