Central Alberta's first Classical Conversations graduates were celebrated this week.
Four graduates — James Dyck, Isaac Flaman, Avery Kasper and Arianna Petersen — presented their senior theses to judges at Kentwood Alliance Church on Friday, May 9.
Chelsea Flaman, Challenge IV director for Classical Conversations of Central Alberta, described Classical Conversations as a "classical education-based program" that begins being taught at the age of five.
"Students are taken through classical skills, so they're learning how to think and how to defend what they think," Flaman explained.
"They're learning Latin and the roots of language. They're reading classic literature and looking for deeper themes as they get older. They're learning how to write paragraphs and how to write persuasively."
Classical Conversations was founded by a homeschooling mother and aerospace engineer in Texas about 30 years ago. The program exists in numerous communities across North America. It was introduced in Central Alberta about eight years ago.
"Every community is learning the same thing at the same time," Flaman said.
"They created a curriculum for us to follow. It's run by local moms who are homeschooling their own children. Those moms go through training and receive support from (the program)."
The idea behind the Senior Thesis project was for students to take their years of classical education and apply what they've learned to research a topic they're passionate about, Flaman noted.
"In October, they began researching (their topic) from a neutral standpoint and look at both sides, while being open to having their opinion changed," said Flaman.
"They submitted their thesis around Christmastime and began working with mentors. One of the students had a mentor from the United States, while others were local scholars or people who knew something about the topic. Those mentors can prompt their questions, and help them find some good research, books or articles to use."
From there, the students wrote papers as long as 25 pages and prepared to defend the paper in front of the following judges: Dr. John Cline, Dr. Chelsea Henry, Dr. William Teichgraber, St Leonard's on The Hill Anglican Church Rev. Chris Roth, former mayor of North Cowichan, B.C. Al Siebring, nurse Anne Frantz and Kentwood Alliance Church Pastor Garrett Gillespie.
"The goal isn't about assessment or memorizing facts from a textbook. It's more about understanding ideas, wrestling with ideas, and growing your own skills in rhetoric, debate and research," said Flaman.
Most of the graduates being celebrated at the event have been in Central Alberta's Classical Conversations since its creation.
For more information on Classical Conversations, visit www.classicalconversations.com.
