Our second year of operations is now underway with 29 young men from all over the country. In addition to new students our faculty has been growing and I’m pleased to say that the school is as healthy as ever. Our new building, Theotokos Hall is both beautiful and functional; the farm is bursting with life and benefiting from the attention of the young men who work on it each day; and our classes are in session both here in Kansas and in France where our juniors are travelling for their Trimester Abroad.
In the coming months we will have a flurry of activities here on our campus and around the country. We are both delivering and hosting lectures, readings, recitals, and fundraising events as we seek pledges to begin construction on the first of our “Bunkhouse” dormitories. Stay tuned for the details and if you are interested in assisting us by hosting an event or spreading the word, please be in touch. It would be difficult to overstate how much we need your support as we embark on the next phase of campus construction. Please join us in taking a stand for the education of young men.
Saint Martin, pray for us!
Duc in Altum,
Daniel Kerr, President
Patrick Whalen, Headmaster
Theotokos Hall
After over a year of construction, our first building, the hearth and home of the Academy, is complete. Deo Gratias. Theotokos Hall contains dormitories in the basement, an office, kitchen and dining hall on the first floor, and classrooms and the chapel in its loft. The building is functioning beautifully and we are grateful to the contractors and benefactors who helped us to erect this noble hall.
The Hall of Fire in Rivendell represents the place where tradition is passed on through story, where meaning is revealed, where language expresses itself in the making and interpretation of worlds. The ambience of fire, of a friendly hearth where all strangers are made welcome and find consolation, speaks of a place where humanity can take root and flourish, a true home – the “Last Homely House.” Here prose is subordinate to poetry, and poetry to song. – Stratford Caldecott, Beauty in the Word
Freshmen in Wyoming
Led by Cor Expeditions and our own intrepid duo of Mr. Ryan Bauer and Mr. Joshua Gieger, the 9th graders began their careers at St. Martin’s Academy on a proper adventure – spending several days in the Wind River mountain range of Wyoming. Operating at a base altitude of 10,000 ft, the boys logged over 20 miles of hiking through a rough and rugged backcountry, carrying their own provisions on their back and preparing their own meals.
Cor Expeditions, an offshoot of Wyoming Catholic College, provided exceptional programming throughout, including reflections on beauty, wonder and God’s presence in the book of Creation.
Les Garcons en France
The 11th graders are now nearly 3 weeks into their 10-week Study Abroad program in Europe and, to quote Israel Meyers, “it has been a glorious trip” thus far. Highlights thus far include many hours in le Louvre in Paris, venerating the bones of St. Martin in Tours, and crawling amongst the mortar scarred landscape above Pointe du Hoc at Normandy Beach. Many thanks to our friends at Chavagne International School for hosting us and organizing our trip to the legendary Puy du Fou, an authentically Catholic and medieval theme park in the Vendee.
Now stationed at the Abbey of Fontgombault in central France, the boys are settling into to stable rhythm of ora et labora in the Benedictine life. This period of retreat serves as a wonderful counterpoint to the complex movements of their previous weeks on the road and their future pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. See pictures from the trip here!
Saint Martin, Saint Benedict and Saint James, pray for us!
Whether conducting field observations, singing at Mass, measuring and cutting lumber, or enacting (in earnest) the hand to hand combat in Robin Hood, class at St. Martin’s Academy is back in session. This is the poetic mode of education where we seek to put a little blood back into the experience of learning which has sadly become, in many cases, an exercise in enervation. We’re proud to be challenging and changing the norms in education for young men.
Down on the Farm
St. Martin’s Farms is bustling with new life. 5 healthy, newborn calves have arrived in the last 3 weeks and we welcomed 50 baby broiler chicks just yesterday. Current head-count: 16 cows, 19 hogs, 47 sheep, 20 rabbits, 78 laying hens, 4 roosters, 50 broiler chicks, 6 geese and 1 absurdly large Tom turkey. And growing daily.
Above: Sophomore Joseph Klassen shows proper technique for carrying one of our newborn American Milking Devon calves.
October 26th – Faculty Lecture
Please join us October 26th in Theotokos Hall for our first Faculty Lecture of the 2019-2020 Academic Year. St. Martin’s President Daniel Kerr will be giving an apologia “for the birds” in discussing his passion for ornithology and how birding is particularly well suited to our pedagogical commitments at St. Martin’s.
Above: Mr. Kerr’s Natural History class gathers in Gunn Park for some peak migratory birding last Spring.
Join the Cause!
St. Martin’s is changing the landscape in secondary education and disrupting an ineffective and unimaginative status quo. Please consider giving generously to our Raise the Rafters Campaign with a one-time gift or pledge. No gift is too small (or too large!) and will be stewarded carefully as we build a campus for generations to come.
After spending several weeks with him over the summer, we have been able to see the fruits of our son’s experience at St. Martin’s—from his willing and take-charge attitude in helping around the house, to his patience with his siblings (setting a good example by choosing to take the high road when sibling rivalry tiffs come up), to his determined attitude in completing difficult outdoor projects, to his dedication in continuing to study and prepare academically over the summer. Truly, the list could go on and on.
