The SMA Curriculum, Part IIContinued from page 1

St. Monica Academy301 North Orange Grove Blvd.Pasadena, CA 91103

Spring 2012

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These pedestrian-sounding skills require no small amount of instruction, practice, and time-consuming critiques by our excellent faculty. And the proof is in the pudding. St. Monica Academy graduates have been recognized again and again by their college faculty for their facility as writers. One graduate was summoned by a Notre Dame Theology professor and urged to switch her major to that subject based on the excellence of a paper she had written. Another graduate at another university was asked to circulate her paper on European Political Philosophy to the rest of the students as a model to emulate. And just this past week, a History Professor sent an email to one of our graduates saying, “I wanted to let you know that I have enjoyed reading your intelligent and thoughtful summaries for your weekly assignments. You write well – fresh and natural. Thank you for a quality effort, and for contributing much to the discussion!” Another graduate summarized the source of his college success: “Mrs. Halpin guided me to break through the difficulties of c lear, compel l ing wri t ing.”

In parallel with mastering the bread and butter of expository writing, our

The High School curriculum is designed as a continuous education in the third of the “three transcendentals.”

In our last issue, we discussed a distinguishing feature of the SMA High School curriculum: the integration of the courses in History and Literature. We closed with the observation that the literary selections integrated into the History classes are not only pertinent to the period under study, but were also selected for their stylistic power and beauty.

Beauty of style has been a hallmark of both great leaders and sa ints : Lincoln and Churchill, Augustine and Newman, and of course Biblical writers such as the psalmists and St. Paul.

This is no coincidence. As Peter Kreeft has observed, in the psychological order (as opposed to the ontological order), “We are attracted to truth, first, by its beauty.” In other words, to become leaders and Christian apologists, St. Monica Academy students should aspire to write and speak with beauty.

Of course, we must learn to walk before we can run. So the primary emphasis in student compositions is on the basics of grammar, organization, logic, and rigor of expository writing.

BeautyThe SMA Curriculum, part II

students are continually exposed to the higher arts of poetic prose and rhetorical devices used by historical masters. Like basketball players learning the basics of dribbling but also watching films of Kobe Bryant, SMA students are drilled in the fundamentals of composition while being taught the techniques of virtuosity. They are presented with the rich toolkit of “rhetorical figures of speech,” and shown examples – from famous speeches and classic literature – of devices such as parallelism, antithesis, alliteration, metonymy, and many more. Your SMA high-school son or daughter (or grandson or granddaughter) can tell you why Lincoln wrote, “of the people, by the people, and for the people,” and can give this trope a name (and tell you the metrical beat of that last phrase).

SMA has preserved this pedagogy from the annals of history. Sister Miriam Joseph’s landmark study of young Will Shakespeare’s curriculum at his Elizabethan “grammar school” has traced every figure of speech in his plays to the rhetorical devices in the Greek and Latin literature memorized by students in his day. Lincoln became the great American master of speech and prose by memorizing Shakespeare and the poetic King James Bible, and reading masterpieces such as Pilgrim’s Progress and Grey’s Elegy Written in an English Churchyard, all studied by students at SMA.

Of course students at the high school level will not incorporate all of these literary techniques and rhetorical

MissionSt. Monica Academy, an independent, coeducational school for grades one through twelve, founded by parents in fulfillment of their primary responsibility for educating their children, seeks to form students in faith, reason, and virtue through a classical education in the Roman Catholic tradition.

(626) 229-0351 phone(626) 229-0343 faxheadmaster@stmonicaacademy.com e-mailwww.stmonicaacademy.com web

Faith � Reason � VirtueSt. M

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devices into their everyday compositions. But continual exposure to the elements of style during four years of reading brilliant speeches, poems and prose in the English, History and Religion classes, builds up a latent treasury for enriching a lifetime of writing and speaking.

And lifelong love of learning is what St. Monica Academy seeks to inspire. The study of language should be the pursuit of a lifetime. Parents can help instill this in their SMA sons and daughters: During dinner table conversation ask what your student is reading. During the past several weeks in Christian Apologetics, for example, students have been reading some of the most lustrous prose in the English language, G. K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy. Ask them what parts they read aloud today in class, or better yet, have them read a passage aloud to the family.

St. Monica Academy was founded to impart knowledge of, and love for, “the true, the good, and the beautiful.” As Professor Kreeft points out, these are three attributes of God and of all of God’s creation. They correspond to three aspects of the image of God in us: our faculties of mind, will, and emotions. They are so ingrained that every culture has sought them, even our popular culture (“Spock, Kirk & McCoy,” to borrow again from Kreeft) and the most errant of thinkers (Kreeft analogizes to Freud’s “ego, superego and id”). The ability to appreciate – and then to recreate – beauty, can empower future leaders and apostles. Aquinas said that “beauty is that which, being seen, pleases.” Thus, Professor Kreeft concludes, it is beauty that “has the greatest power over our souls.”

So when your student struggles late at night to master a difficult text, encourage him or her to see that they are not only doing an assignment, but are preparing themselves to be fishers of men, with beauty as their bait.

To learn more about the Church’s teaching on the True, the Good, and the Beautiful, download the lecture by Professor Peter Kreeft of this title (available on Amazon.com), from which the non-SMA-specific portions of this article were directly taken. Andy Zepeda with 2012 Osti Award recipient Fr. Marcos Gonzalez at the 2012 Auction Gala

Save the Date Thursday, June 7 6:30-9:30pm

Graduation Mass & Ceremony

Speaker: Daniel LowensteinDirector, Center for the Liberal Arts

and Free Institutions (UCLA)at St. Andrew Catholic Curch, Pasedena

Spring 2012Page Two

Mr. Andrew Zepeda PresidentMr. Martin Boles Vice PresidentMr. Khushro Ghandhi TreasurerMr. Donald Harrahill SecretaryMr. Alan ArnallMr. Daniel CollinsMr. Len GolbransonDr. T. Murphy GoodwinMr. R. Scott Turicchi

Board of Advisors

Board of Directors

Mrs. Laura BerquistDr. Don J. Briel Dr. Thomas E. Dillon†Dr. John C. EastmanRev. Ernest L. Fortin, A.A.†Dr. Robert P. GeorgeProf. Mary Ann GlendonMr. Nicholas H. Healy, Jr.Dr. Alice von HildebrandDr. Charles R. KeslerRev. Matthew L. LambRev. Paul Mankowski, S.J.Msgr. M. Francis MannionMr. Nicolas MartinDr. Ronald P. McArthurDr. Ralph McInerny†Dr. Timothy O’DonnellMr. Peter M. RobinsonRoy S. Rohter, S.F.O.Dr. Kevin RyanRev. Michael Scanlan, T.O.R.Mr. William Simon, Jr.Mr. James StensonDr. Michael WaldsteinMr. Paul M. Weyrich †

Page ThreeSpring 2012

2012 Senior Profiles

Chantelle Marie Bertino-ClarkeFavorite Subjects: Biology, Chemistry, and all of Mr. O’Donnell’s history classes (Ancient, Renaissance, and American) Favorite Books from HS curriculum: Mere Christianity, The Crucible, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Joan of Arc, and Richard III.Extracurriculars: Basketball, Counselor for 3 Girls Clubs and 2 Camps, Cross Country, TrackHonors: Second Honors; National Latin Exam, Cum Laude; MVP, Basketball and Cross Country; Most Inspirational Player, Basketball.College: Pasadena City College (UCLA in 2 years)Major: Acting, with a minor in nursingSummer plans: Hosting four camps and attending two acting camps; 1st assistant to a producer working on two of her productions; babysitting and a part-time nanny job; assisting a professional biologist in her professional studies.

Sarah Angela AndersonFavorite Subject: MathFavorite Books from HS curriculum: Pride and PrejudiceExtracurriculars: Volleyball, Latin Club, Art Club, Crusaders for LifeHonors: First Honors, National Honor SocietyCollege: University of DallasProbable Major: NursingSummer Plans: Volunteering at Huntington Hospital, Working

Codie BarryFavorite Subjects: English, HistoryFavorite Books: The Great Gatsby, Gunner’s Daughter, Paradise LostExtracurriculars: Basketball, Cross CountryHonors: First Honors; Most Improved Player, Basketball; Most Inspirational Player, Basketball; National Latin Exam, Magna Cum Laude College: The University of DallasMajor: Literature, ArchitectureSummer plans: Working at a coffee shop

Meredith BolesFavorite Subjects: American History, Moral Theology, and ChemistryFavorite Books: Richard III, Purgatorio, A Tale of Two Cities, and Pride and PrejudiceExtracurriculars: Volleyball, Schola, Girls Club Counselor, Student CouncilHonors: First Honors; National Latin Exams, Summa and Maxima Cum Laude; Second Team All-Conference, VolleyballCollege: UCLAProbable Major: Art HistorySummer Plans: Lights, Camera, Action: A week of classes, excursions, and speakers, where young women learn about the entertainment industry; Counselor for two, week-long girls camps.

Isabel ZepedaFavorite Subjects: Literature and Concert ChoirFavorite Books: Gunnar’s Daughter, The Divine Comedy, and The Canterbury TalesExtracurriculars: Sing with Pasadena and take voice lessons for solo operaHonors: State recognition for SingingCollege: San Francisco Conservatory of MusicProbable Major: MusicSummer Plans: Working

Peter Thomas GoodwinFavorite Subject: HistoryFavorite Books: The Sea WolfExtracurriculars: Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Drama, Schola, PianoHonors: First Honors; National Honor Society; First Team All-Conference, Basketball; Captain, BasketballCollege: United States Naval AcademyProbable Major: I have an interest in naval architecture and historySummer Plans: Plebe summer at the Naval Academy

Blaise Edward Robert InmanFavorite subject: MathematicsFavorite Books: Gunnar’s Daughter, Sir Gawain and The Green KnightExtracurriculars: Basketball, Baseball, Drama, ScholaHonors: First Honors; National Honor Society, National Latin Exam, Cum Laude; All-CIFSouthern Section (Division 7), Baseball; League and Team MVP & First Team All-Conference,Baseball; Team MVP & First Team All-Conference, Basketball; Captain, Baseball & BasketballCollege: University of Notre DameProbable Major: 5-year Engineering+MBASummer Plans: Playing baseball, work, visit family

Thomas HalpinFavorite Subject: HistoryFavorite Book: Paradise LostExtracurriculars: Crusaders for Life, Film Production, DramaCollege: Cal State LAMajor: Film and Media StudiesSummer Plans: Find a job over summer and a lot of vacationing

Sidney ScullyFavorite Subject: English Favorite Books: Gunnar’s Daughter, Paradise Lost, The Great Gatsby, Great Expectations Extracurriculars: BalletHonors: Second HonorsCollege/Probable Major: I will be a trainee with the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago in the fall. There is no school attached, and it is a year of extended learning. Summer plans: I will be going to Chicago to dance for five weeks and then to the Netherlands to attend a dance program in the Hague.

Joseph GrumbineFavorite Subject: Government, Economics, Physical EducationFavorite Books from HS curriculum: Murder at the Rue Morgue, anything else by PoeExtracurriculars: Volleyball, DramaCollege: Le Cordon BleuProbable Major: Culinary ArtsSummer Plans: Working

Gianna Halpin Favorite Subject: LiteratureFavorite Books: Gunnar’s Daughter, To Kill A Mockingbird, Beowulf, and Don Quixote Extracurriculars: Leader of Schola, Volleyball, Crusaders for Life, Shakespeare productionsHonors: Second Honors; National Honor Society; Most Inspirational Player, VolleyballCollege: San Francisco Conservatory of MusicMajor: Vocal PerformanceSummer Plans: Finding a job.

Ana Maria CornejoFavorite Subject: MathematicsFavorite Books: The Great Gatsby, Antony and Cleopatra, MacbethExtracurriculars: Volleyball, Schola, Student Government Honors: First Honors; National Honor Society; National Merit Commended Scholar; NationalHispanic Scholar; National Latin Exam Gold & Silver Medals; Christian Service Award 2012 College: Loyola Marymount UniversityProbable Major: Psychology and Spanish

Albert JagelsFavorite Subjects: Moral Theology, GeometryFavorite Books: The Aeneid, Metamorphoses, Beowulf, Song of RolandExtracurriculars: Boy Scouts, Rugby, Drama (Falstaff in “The Merry Wives of Windsor”)Honors: National Honor Society; National Latin Exam Gold Medalist; Eagle Scout College: California Maritime AcademyProbable Major: Marine EngineeringSummer plans: Possible internship at Pasadena City Hall

Madeleine Sophie Rose LessardFavorite Subjects: Literature and LatinFavorite Books: Macbeth, Gunnar’s Daughter, Screwtape Letters, Pride and PrejudiceExtracurriculars: Student Council (Religious Activities Coordinator, Student Body President), Schola, Track, Crusaders for Life, Drama Honors: First Honors, National Merit Finalist, Na-tional Latin Exam Gold Medalist, Poetry OutLoud 2010-11 School WinnerCollege: Thomas Aquinas CollegeMajor: Liberal ArtsSummer Plans: Work

Will BolesFavorite Subjects: Biology, American History, PEFavorite Books: A Tale of Two Cities, Gunner’s Daughter, Animal FarmExtracurriculars: Basketball, Baseball, Cross Country, Volleyball, Schola, Student Council, Boy Scouts, DramaHonors: First Honors; National Latin Exam, Summa Cum Laude; Co-MVP &Captain, Cross Country; Co-Captain & Second Team All-Conference, Basketball; Eagle ScoutCollege: UCLAProbable Major: Pre-MedSummer Plans: Working (hopefully at In-N-Out or construction)

St. Monica Academy’s 2012 performance of Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor

2012 St. Monica Academy Senior Class