Will closing the Department of Education fix education?

How to get back the lost art of memorization

The Dean’s List with Host Dean Bowen – In a classical education, memorization plays a primary role. As a matter of fact, memorization is the very foundation of grammar school. A few years ago I received a message from a former student. I taught her in middle school almost 25 years ago. Her message was short, but full of gratitude because of an assignment I insisted upon the...

Surgeon General issues warning about screen time for kids

The Dean’s List with Host Dean Bowen – “Early exposure to screens carries developmental and cognitive risks. Screen use in early life is linked to poorer language outcomes,” the advisory states, pointing to research that found that children who used screens more had poorer language skills. The advisory further states that excessive screen time has been linked to inferior educational and health...

Don’t give up the ship

The Dean’s List with Host Dean Bowen – From Captain James Lawrence’s final command to Oliver Hazard Perry’s victory on Lake Erie, “Don’t give up the ship” echoes into modern education. Classical schools grow as families embrace faith, Western thought, phonics, rhetoric, and moral formation, proving perseverance still shapes America’s classrooms and the enduring pursuit of wisdom today...

The story of two declaration signers from Virginia who we rarely hear about

The Dean’s List with Host Dean Bowen – Two overlooked Virginia signers, Thomas Nelson Jr. and George Wythe, reveal how sacrifice, courage, learning, and virtue sustain liberty. Their lives call schools, families, and churches to form citizens who choose duty over comfort and understand that freedom depends on character as much as knowledge, law, and public service today...

America forgot George Washington’s most important warning

The Dean’s List with Host Dean Bowen – Washington’s farewell address offers a timely warning about national unity, political division, foreign entanglements, and the indispensable role of religion and morality in public life. His words challenge Americans to reconsider the foundations of liberty, education, and civic responsibility while reflecting on how far the nation has drifted morally today...