• Mr. Pat Devine, former TAA Board member, now an army chaplain, deployed on December 4.  Prayers are welcome! Our school has adopted an additional military man, Lt JG Garrett Moore, who is a Navy SEAL in California. Our other military adoptees are: Lt JG Matthew Anthony, deployed in early December to the Arabian Gulf, LCpl Jonathan Guelzo, Marines, and Cpl James Chun, Marines, and member of Antioch Presbyterian Church.
• Older students started a unit on Greek pottery in ceramics in early December at the Whitemarsh Community Art Center. We will study Greek pottery and produce our own, which shall be entered in the Philadelphia Classical Society Art competition in February.
• Special thanks to Mr. Tom Anderson for an enlightening discussion on John Milton’s Paradise Lost.  We celebrated Milton’s 400th birthday with a special birthday cake and a pencil with the Milton quote, “What is dark in me, illumine.” (We trust that students know that Milton also wrote Paradise Regained.)
• The final installment in the fall FPRI lecture series on the Middle East was Thursday, December 11, at the Union League.  The lecture was “U.S. Policy Toward the Middle East,” by one of our favorite speakers, Dr. Harvey Sicherman, President, Foreign Policy Research Institute. Mrs. Chagan prepared her world affairs student over the last several weeks on this important and timely subject.

The American Academy now accepts donations online via Click and Pledge.  If you wish to make a donation online, or even via mail, please visit our donations page.

On October 27th, Dr. James Kurth gave a lecture entitled What are We Fightin’ For? Western Civilization in the 21st Century for the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia.  From the FPRI website:

James Kurth is the Claude Smith Professor of Political Science at Swarthmore College, where he teaches defense policy, foreign policy, and international politics. Professor Kurth is the author of numerous articles and editor of two volumes in the fields of defense policy, foreign policy, international politics, and European politics. His recent publications have focused upon the interrelations between the global economy, cultural conflicts, foreign policy, and military strategy. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (New York) and of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (London).

This was the inaugural Robert Carr Lecture on Western Civilization, made possible by a grant from FPRI trustee Robert E. Carr.

This is an excellent lecture by an accomplished scholar who is a friend of TAA.  Dr. Kurth emphasizes the importance of teaching the rich history and values of western civilization to our children, and laments that mainstream education has largely abandoned it.  Several members of the TAA community were in attendance, including Mrs. Lee Anthony, head of school.  During the lecture, Dr. Kurth twice singled out TAA as an example of the kind of education our society must promote if we hope to defend western civilization.  TAA is both thrilled and humbled to receive the endorsement of a scholar of Dr. Kurth’s stature.

FPRI posted the entire lecture available in streaming video format from its website.  Dr. Kurth mentions TAA and Mrs. Anthony twice, once at the 56 minute mark, and once at the 1:11 mark.

On Friday November 14th, students from the American Academy were the guests of a kind benefactor at a Kimmel Center concert in Philadelphia.  Before the performance, Mr. Tom Anderson prepared the children for the performance of Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, Grosse Fugue, and Missa Solemnis.  After the performance, our students were invited backstage to meet the conductor and performers.  Praise God for this wonderful opportunity, and thanks also to Mr. Anderson and to our very thoughtful benefactor!

Congratulations to our students whose works were selected for publication in this year’s Creative Communication Celebrating What Is Important to Me essay contest: Sam Anthony; Lukas, Danny, and Josh Carroll; Maggie and Molly Harnish; Jacqui and Nathania Hofstetter; Samantha and Noelle Ludlum; Tad and Baret Lyon; Nathan Master; David Matej; Rachel Meell and Stephanie Meell; Eleanor and Samuel Miller; Laura, Sarah, and David Null; Ace Robinson; and Elena Sutton.  Well done!

In addition:

• Students in grades K-12 are busy working on their poetry for the upcoming Creative Communications poetry contest.
• Grades 5-8 are writing for the Daughters of the American Revolution essay contest, on the topic “The Ideals of the Gettysburg Address.”
• Noelle Ludlum will represent TAA in the 27th annual essay contest, sponsored by Penn State University.

Thanks to Dr. Traver, Mrs. Null, and Mrs. Chagan for all of their hard work helping our students find their muse!

It’s that time of year to begin thinking of “Operation Brotherhood,” an outreach sponsored by Skilton House Ministries in the name of Christ to provide food for needy families at Thanksgiving time. Last year 1,831 food bags were packed (aided by our able students!) and distributed, along with a 12-pound, frozen turkey added later to each bag. Donations of any amount of the following canned foods will be appreciated: 1 lb. can of Peas, 1 lb. can of Corn, 1 lb. can of Green Beans, 1 lb. can of Cranberry Sauce or Fruit, 1 box of Stuffing, 1 lb. can of Yams or Potatoes, 1 or 2 lbs. of Rice.

The American Academy recommends the following events in the greater Philadelphia area:

• From the Wynnewood Institute: Tuesday, 11/7, at Wyndham Hall, Bryn Mawr College, Dr. David Legates, Climatologist, will speak on “The Scientific Perspective on Global Warming.” Dr. Legates is Joint Associate Professor in Physical Ocean Science and Engineering at the University of Delaware College of Marine and Earth Studies.
• Pastor, and prolific author Douglas Wilson of Christ Church, Moscow, ID will debate Christopher Hitchens, outspoken atheist and NY Times bestselling author of God is Not Great.  The topic will be Apologetics in Action: Aesthetics and the Existence of God - Atheism vs. Christianity.  We advise that you arrive early for this lecture, which starts at 6:30 PM on Thursday October 30th at Westminster Theological Seminary. For more information, please see Westminster’s web site.
• Also on Thursday October 30th, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute will present a lecture by Dr. Charles Taylor entitled “A Secular Age.”  This event will begin at 5:30pm at the Greenville Country Club in Wilmington, DE.  Dr. Taylor is the author of a book of the same title, named best book of 2007 by Publishers’ Weekly.  Click here for more details.

The American Academy will hold an open house on Saturday, November 22nd, starting at 6PM.

Anyone interested in attending should contact the school (see our contacts page for the phone number).

From a Daniel Akst article in the Wall Street Journal, 29 August 2008:

What is this miracle that lies within the reach of nearly every family? It’s simple. All you have to do is to start insisting that your children fully apply themselves to their studies — and commit yourself to doing your part. That means making sure they do all the work expected of them as well as their abilities allow. It also means making sure everything at home stands behind these principles and supports the idea of learning.

Read the entire article here.