My Weekend with Chesterton {Academy}

Notes from the Chesterton Gala

“There are no uneducated people. Everybody…is educated, only most people are educated wrong.”

Seven years ago this March, my husband and I were in Hawaii.

{sigh}

I mention this trip for two reasons: one, it’s 0 degrees outside right now and those memories of Waikiki Beach are all I got. Two, and this reason is actually pertinent to this post, it was at lunch on Waikiki Beach that we met with our friend, Tom Bengston.

I remember it like it was yesterday (and not just because I blogged about it). My burger was dry but the conversation was not, as Tom described a vision that he and colleague Dale Ahlquist had: to start a classical, Catholic-centered school in the Twin Cities.

Sounds great, right? Sounds like exactly the sort of school our country needs? 

Well, they did it. They founded Chesterton Academy in the fall of 2008 and since then, the school has flourished and bloomed. I say this in truth, and with great love and respect, even though {wink wink} my kids attend a rival school across the river.

Without further adieu, then, our Saturday date night at the Chesterton Gala. It may not have been Hawaii but it sure was fun.

Of course I had to take lots of photos.

I joked with people at the gala that I was a spy from “that other school” and that is why I had my camera.

“Are you really?” one guy asked. He looked concerned and started edging away.

Not really, I told him, I just like to take pictures.

And then I turned up the volume on my secret hidden mic.

Every student from the school was there! (Mind you, not all of them are pictured above.)

They sang beautifully! And successfully ignored the crazy lady with a camera!

I call this next set of pictures “Me and a Bunch of People that are Cooler than Me.”

I mean, seriously.

What’s with me needing to be in all these pictures?

It’s like I have a compulsion or something.

(I know what you’re thinking.)

(Only one?)

Well, here’s a photo I didn’t step into: my friend Andrea and her husband Jim.

Is she cute or is she cute? Would you ever guess that she is eight months pregnant?

The meal began with a blessing by Archbishop Nienstadt, who received a standing ovation before he even began speaking.

Well-deserved, I might add. The poor man is going through hell, you know?

Here’s a photo for you, sweet Sarah:

Our gracious emcee, Dale Ahlquist!

Dale spoke about the mission of the school, which includes an award-winning combination of good kids and good books, great art and great faith.

“Faith” as in the Faith, which makes it the greatest.

Okay. Having kept the tone of this post light-hearted, for the most part, I need to dial it up a bit. This is why: I joked about having my kids at one of the “rival” schools, but in truth, there are starting to be some very real factions. I know this because I’m around kids (and parents) who talk.

You know the expression “mistakes were made”? Well, to use the passive voice to avoid pointing fingers….

Pot shots (a lot) are being taken, by people from each school toward the other.

This kills me! As Catholics and Christians, we cannot be so short-sighted. I have dear friends at Chesterton, I have dear friends at Trinity, and I have dear friends who homeschool all the way through high school. We need to be forming strong alliances now, because the truth is, our kids will one day be at the same Catholic colleges and they had BEST be united when they get there.

If not, this world will eat them up.

It despised Him first and it will despise us too.

Let’s not make it worse by fighting, please. Let’s not argue who among us is the greatest but rather, let’s take ourselves lightly like angels…and soar.

I’m linking up (belatedly) with you, sweet Sarah, because hello?! It’s Chesterton!

Read more from this great saint-in-the-making at Weekends with Chesterton @ Amongst Lovely Things.