Collateral Education

A poster suggesting that we “Love people, use things” was tacked to the kitchen wall of my childhood home, hung there by mother in a spurt of creativity. “I like the sentiment and the colors work nicely with the decor, don’t you think?” she said, by way of explanation as she sipped her coffee. I […]

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A Certain Je Ne Sais Quoi

For some reason, which to this day remains a mystery to us both, my good friend Patti Bailey and I were placed in an advanced French class upon entering Notre Dame Prep as freshman so very many years ago. Perhaps it was our grade school record that led them to make certain assumptions about our […]

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The Age of Innocence

It’s getting harder to believe in innocence anymore. I’ve seen too many 6 year olds going on 16 and 16 year olds going on 30. What’s the hurry? The most popular TV shows among teenagers have titles like Pretty Little Liars, Gossip Girls, and The Secret Life of an American Teenager.  Each has a plotline […]

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Excellence By Design

 ‘Peer evaluation’. There’s a term that’ll send a shudder down the spine of any garden-variety neurotic: Employer questionnaire: Please evaluate your co-worker, Susie B.  Employee answer: I’m so glad you asked. I’ve been wanting to bring this to your attention for some time now. I feel that Susie B. can be very insensitive (I wouldn’t […]

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Art For More Than Art’s Sake

Do not conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…Romans 12:2 There is nothing more thrilling than connecting in a very personal way with a work of art. Imagine how thrilling it must be for the artist to create it.  To take the mundane material of life, run it through […]

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Blue Ribbon Year

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.    Aristotle. Does excellence matter? In an era where we give our kids trophies for striking out and kudos for feeling good about themselves (if not their actual skills) it begs the question…does excellence matter?  The U.S. Department of Education thinks […]

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