An Examined Education

Melissa Gingrich, our Upper School Principal, joins us to discuss the what and why of the Upper School Advisory Program. Melissa brings a unique perspective - being both the Upper School Principal as well as the mother of two graduates and a current Sophomore - that makes her especially equipped to discuss the program's objective and implications.

DJ Goodwiler, our Humanities Chair and Rhetoric Teacher, walks us through the Junior and Senior trips to DC and Italy. These trips culminate their studies of rhetoric and history, allowing the students to put their studies into practice as they interact rhetorically with historical places and spaces.

Alice and Ben, two of our 6th graders, join us to talk about their experience as Cambridge students. They offer unique insights into the Cambridge experience and advice for other Cambridge Students. It was a blast having Alice and Ben on and we were blown away with what they had to say! This is an episode you definitely do not want to miss!

Eric and Shelly Potwardowski join us to share their experience as parents at The Cambridge School. The Potwardowskis currently have children in every stage of The Cambridge Education (Grammar, Logic, Rhetoric, Aluma), making their experience an especially unique one. Listen in to hear about how their children's experiences have differed and how, as parents, they have handled the ups and downs as the school has grown with them.

3:16 on amazonHermann Zapf's illustration of John 3:161 Tim 3:16 "note the Russian orthodox cross in the negative space" -Dr. Settergrenliterateprogramming.comThe Annotated Turing, Charles PetzoldEyes in the Sky, Arthur Holland MichelBeauty and Joy of Computing:"We also think that computer programs (not just the pictures that programs can produce) can be things of beauty.... good programmers develop a sense of programming aesthetics."

DJ Goodwiler joins us back on the show to discuss progymnasmata, a series of "pre-exercises" that our students practice before entering Rhetoric School.

Amy Tollefson, Business Manager at The Cambridge School, joins us to take us behind the scenes of operations--the human endeavor that keeps the wheels turning at Cambridge.

Jeff switches roles and joins us as a guest to talk development at The Cambridge School. Alli Kaye, our Development Coordinator, steps in as host for this episode. We hope you enjoy!

Leslie Yoder, our Director of Enrollment Management, joins us to discuss admissions at The Cambridge School. Leslie has a lot to say about the what makes admissions at Cambridge different than your typical admissions process.

Jean Kim speaks at the Society for Classical Learning on building a high performance leadership team

Jean Kim, founder of The Cambridge School, talks about the formation and importance of a leadership team.

Hana Rodgers, our 2nd and 3rd Grade team lead, sits down to walk us through a bit of the early Grammar School curriculum. She talks about feast days, 3rd grade events, our unique teacher partnerships, and how virtue development is cultivated in our students from a young age.

Jean gives her speech from Back to School Night 2016.

The Class of 2020 joins us on the podcast to describe their college admission process and how Cambridge has shaped their decision on which schools to pursue.

Jean speaks at Back to School Night 2015 about the need for Robust Rebirth of a Classical Christian Education.

Jean Kim, Founder of the Cambridge School, speaks to the need of an education like the Cambridge education. Listen Now!

Jean Kim joins our hosts Jeff and DJ to discus the way that Cambridge reacted to the Covid-19 pandemic--the decision process of closing the school, the migration to an online teaching format, and where we are at now as an educational program and as a community.

This is a speech that Jean Kim gave in 2017 at Back to School Night. We hope everyone is staying healthy and safe!

2020 College Acceptances

Jump back in to Math at Cambridge with Par II of our discussion on what Math looks like at Cambridge.

The Cambridge Math Department joins us this week to talk about math at Cambridge and how we approach math a little differently. This episode will be broken into two parts, so make sure that you tune-in in two weeks to hear part 2!

As we continue to cover our curriculum at Cambridge, we welcome Dr. Melissa Gingrich, our Upper School Principal, who has been with the school since its inception and has been a big part in writing our Science Curriculum and refining it over the years. She speaks on the scope and sequence of our Science curriculum and talks about what makes Cambridge unique in its study of Science when compared to other educational organizations.

Welcome back to the continuation of How is Cambridge Christian, this week we will pick up the conversation we were having with Russ Kapusinski, Brent Baber, and DJ Goodwiler about how exactly Cambridge is Christian. Last episode we talked about a lot of the explicit ways in which Cambridge is Christian and in this episode we talk a bit more about some of the implicit ways Cambridge is Christian. As always we would love to hear your thoughts on the conversation and any questions you may have. Feel free to send any correspondence to our social media pages @anexaminededucation on facebook and instagram.

Join us this week to hear from Russ Kapusinski, Brent Baber, and DJ Goodwiler, all teachers who have been part of creating and implementing the Bible Curriculum at Cambridge. We begin to discuss what the Cambridge Bible Program looks like. This episode will be continued in Part III. Stay Tuned!

Jeff, Colleen, and DJ continue their conversation of Rhetoric within the Cambridge School as well as how Rhetoric manifests itself in its many forms and how it can influence the way we interact with the world around us.

Co-host DJ Goodwiler, takes off his hosting hat to be a guest on this episode of An Examined Education as he talks with Colleen Dong about Rhetoric-what it is and how it is taught at the Cambridge School. Enjoy!

DJ Goodwiler addresses the Cambridge Community about the Upper School literature program at The Cambridge School and how a reader can approach a work of literature rhetorically and ethically.

Jim discusses Latin, Ancient History, and what makes The Cambridge Curriculum so unique. This is part two of this conversation and a follow up to a speech that Jim gave earlier in the year to a group of students about How Cambridge is Classical.

Language Chair Jim Hamilton addresses the Upper School students at a retreat earlier in the year. Jim tracks classical education back to its origins to illustrate a couple ways in which the Cambridge Education is a classical education.

Russ Kapusinski joins us on today's episode to tell what it does and does not mean to be a Christian School in today's contemporary climate and challenges assumptions that may be brought into the discussion. This conversation will be continued in a future episode, so keep an eye out for that!

In Part 2 of our discussion with Colleen Dong, DJ steps in to do a deep dive on some of the concepts that Colleen discussed on her previous discussion with Jeff. Tune-in to hear how “Kindergarten is really 12th grade Lite” and how our Kindergarten Teachers embody Homer as they transition these young children from oral culture into literacy.

Colleen Dong has been with Cambridge more than most and has been involved in all stages of the educational development of the students. In this episode, Colleen tells her story of how she first got involved in the Kindergarten classroom and eventually came to teach Kindergarten here at Cambridge. It is a truly incredible story that shows Kindergarten is not something to look over when it comes to the early development of a child.

Book RecommendationsRecovering the Lost Tools of Learning by Douglas WilsonWisdom and Eloquence by Robert Littlejohn and Charles T. EvansLiberal Arts Tradition by Kevin Clark and Ravi JainInstitutes of Oratory by QuintilianCollected Works by Erasmus

Book Recommendations Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning by Douglas WilsonWisdom and Eloquence by Robert Littlejohn and Charles T. EvansLiberal Arts Tradition by Kevin Clark and Ravi JainInstitutes of Oratory by QuintilianCollected Works by Erasmus

Jean Kim’s address to new parents at the New Parent Orientation. Jean tells about herself and the foundation of The Cambridge School. Tune in to the next episode where Jeff Yoder will dive deeper with Jean into why Cambridge, how Cambridge approaches education, and who the Cambridge education is for.

Jump into the inaugural episode of An Examined Education, with your host, Jeff Yoder, Director of Advancement, and your co-host, DJ Goodwiler, Humanities Chair and Rhetoric and Literature teacher at The Cambridge School. In this commencement, you will learn all about your hosts (perhaps more than is necessary) and learn about why The Cambridge School has decided to start a podcast. We hope you enjoy and perhaps share a laugh or two with some friends (at the expense of our intrepid hosts).