The Culture of Martin Saints
Rose and Mickey Carroll at their wedding reception two weeks ago. Rose is an extraordinary Martin Saints teacher. Our students served the nuptial Mass and sang in the choir. They served the meal, played in the band, and cleaned up afterwards. A Martin Saints education is formation so that maybe someday, our graduates have the hearts and the skills for a wedding as beautiful as Rose and Mickey's. And hey there Mickey - welcome to the Martin Saints family!
Adam and I first met Rose about five years ago. We talked about her Master's thesis on nineteenth century English literature. It was obvious that she was brilliant. We signed her up to teach at Martin Saints as fast as we could. She teaches history and philosophy, and she always exceeds herself academically.
But Rose's vocation for education and evangelism has always overflowed the classroom. She leads not only the cooking but also the campfire songs on our camping trip. She organizes our Frassati Fridays, including next week's trip to Washignton, when the whole school goes on the March for Life.
She is also the chair of our craftmanship department. Did you know that at Martin Saints, nearly every Friday, our students study cooking, wood working, metal working, architecture, drama, and fiber arts (sewing, knitting, etc. - more or less anything with textiles and needles).
We study all these crafts because it's important to get out of your head and work with your hands. We pursue craftmanship because making things that are beautiful and useful is noble. We teach crafts because working creatively with natural materials is a type of excellence. We're also rebels against too many screens and tech-induced lethargy. Most importantly, our Lord was a carpenter, and Catholicism is alert to the tangible and sacramental.
Today it all came together at our annual Twelfth Night Banquet. Tables were set with candles. The cooking class rolled out a heaving buffet: soups, corn bread, pierogis, barbeque, pineapple dressing, so many kinds of cake, the works. Our student carpenters showed off beautiful benches, made with hand tools and no nails. The metal workers shared brass and silver jewelry. There were wool sweaters, embroidered bags, and darned shirts. The young architectures presented drawings and models for a chapel we could maybe build here on the property someday. The ninth graders performed a short play by Frances Chesterton (as in, Mrs. G.K. Chesterton).
Sometimes this school makes my heart ache with joy. Days like today bring me to tears. Academics are in the forefront here, but it's the culture that is priceless. To understand what we're building at this school, you have to come and experience it: the joy, the gentleness, the kindness, and the excellence.
Please come visit. Don't pass by. This is love. This is fully alive.
Our next admissions open house is Sunday, February 2nd, at noon. This will (probably) be our last open house this academic year. You can RSVP here.
Please also be bold about inviting friends and passing the word along. This school needs your help to grow, and this world needs schools like this one.
Mr. Post explains the art and craft of building a beautiful bench.
Anticipation builds for the feast.
Student jewelry.
A student's notebook, designing and preparing for a needlework project.
Nathaniel Gotcher, our architecture teacher, sophomore Maria Pandolfo, and her drawings for an Eastern Rite Catholic chapel.
We're not above mentioning that our boys basketball team has a two-game winning streak at the moment. But they do excellent needle work too.
