Monica VanderWeide, Author at Hillsdale College

Romeo and Juliet: Exploring the Delights and Dangers of Love

By Katarzyna Ignatik, ’20 Romeo and Juliet is easily one of the most known, referenced, performed, and adapted plays in English. Dr. Benedict Whalen, assistant professor of English at Hillsdale […]

BCSI Teacher Spotlight: Kate Nadolny

Kate Nadolny teaches music at Pineapple Cove Classical Academy at West Melbourne, Florida. A native of the Sunshine State, she received her bachelor’s degree in music from Stetson University and […]

Civilization and Violence: Discussing Lord of the Flies with Dr. Tom West

By Avery Lacey, ’20 Lord of the Flies by William Golding, according to Professor of Politics Dr. Tom West, “is a great little book.” He says the novel “reveals secrets […]

The Jungle Book: Cultivating Virtue and Imagination in Young Readers

By Tomek Grzesiak Barney Charter School Initiative Instructional Coach Written over 100 years ago, Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book continues to be read by and to children of all ages. […]

Hillsdale Track team running on the football field during practice.

Mind and Body: Why Physical Education Needs to be an Essential Feature of Classical Education

Physical education: Where does it fit in today’s classical schools? Is it an afterthought or a filler class to give the homeroom teacher a free period? Far from it! In […]

Watercolor cover art of the book 'The Wind in the Willows', featuring Rat and Mole rowing down a river.

Friendship in The Wind in the Willows: Timeless Lessons from a Children’s Classic

The beloved children’s book, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, has delighted readers with its whimsical animal characters since its publication more than a century ago. But those […]

BCSI Staff Spotlight—Dr. Kathleen O’Toole

This July, Hillsdale College welcomed Dr. Kathleen O’Toole as its first-ever Assistant Provost for K-12 Education. In this new role, O’Toole will help to bring all of Hillsdale College’s classical […]

young students in class at charter school

Finding Common Ground on our “Islands of Sanity”: Preserving Classical Tradition in a World of Chaos

In 2003, author and economist Thomas Sowell sent a letter to then-Hillsdale Academy Headmaster Ken Calvert, thanking the school for being “an island of sanity in a crazy educational world.” […]

Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales: Four Tips for Approaching a Medieval Masterpiece

Without a doubt, Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales endures as a masterpiece of English literature. At the same time, its archaic language makes it one of the most feared classics […]

The Heart of the Matter: Claudia Louis, ’71

Retiring this past December, Louis had a long, successful Washington, D.C., career in politics that she credits to her teachers. “My career has been fantastic because of my high school civics teacher and the great professors at Hillsdale — dreams do come true,” she says.

Finding His Voice: Tenor Nicholas Nestorak, ’11, finds success on the opera stage

Nicholas Nestorak, ’11, grew up in Hillsdale and developed a love for the performing arts while attending free concerts by professional artists at Hillsdale College. Although he sang in his church’s choir, he saw himself as an instrumentalist more than a vocalist, also playing piano and cello. But college often has a way of changing one’s direction. Today, Nestorak is an emerging tenor in the opera circuit, fulfilling a passion he discovered in Hillsdale’s Music Department.

Adam Carrington: Politics and Friendship are Not Incompatible

Every Hillsdale student takes a Constitution 101 course in which they explore the historic document and its role within the United States—both at the time of the Founding and today. When Assistant Professor of Politics Adam Carrington teaches that class each semester, he begins the first day with a discussion about man as a political animal. “I want to show students that they will be exploring politics no matter what they study, simply because we are political citizens,” he says.