Since its inception in 1910, the Army and Navy Academy’s curriculum has combined rigorous college-preparatory classes with a leadership training program. As the only military boarding school for boys on the West Coast, the Academy in Carlsbad, California ensures that the Cadet experience focuses on responsibility, citizenship, and character development.

Army and Navy Academy educates tomorrow’s leaders through small class sizes for young men in grades 7-12. The Academy is pleased to be named a Gurian Institute Model School, in recognition of its commitment to single-gender education and use of teaching techniques developed specifically for how boys learn best.  The Academy is proud to be the only military school to receive this designation.

The Gurian Summer Training Institute will be held at Army and Navy on June 23 – 24.  I hope you’ll learn more about our wonderful hosts at armyandnavyacademy.org.

I first got to know Army and Navy Academy four years ago when the Gurian Institute was contacted about providing programming.  At our Winter Institute in Tampa, Florida, I sat down with 9 visiting faculty members and administrators to answer questions for a few minutes.  Those few minutes turned into an hour and a half, and the questions were all great ones! Army and Navy Academy already knew a great deal about how to educate boys toward empathy, motivation, and success.

We forged a common purpose and friendship, which gradually led to GI providing programming for the academy.  As we worked together over the year-long Model School process, we at GI learned a lot from the Academy’s faculty and staff.  When we visited the school, we learned a lot from the students, too. Housed on the beach in Carlsbad, California, the Academy is truly a unique place.

One of my most profound memories with the Academy involves a rite of passage-graduation ceremony in which I was asked to play a small part.  The process of seeing the students in full dress, organized, working in teams, and the ways in which faculty and parents admired and interacted with the students all moved me deeply.  When multi-generational communities mentor boys into manhood, you can feel the character, integrity, and joy as tangible community emotions. The higher good is the goal, and I felt it all there.

If you would like to learn more about the Academy itself, I hope you’ll visit www.armyandnavyacademy.org.  To learn more about how the Gurian philosophy and programming align with the school, please visit https://armyandnavyacademy.org/admissions-boarding-school/how-boys-learn/.  On that page, the Academy staff have created an easy to read and powerful overview of what makes Army and Navy work so well for its students and families.

If you attend our Summer Institute, you’ll see the school and grounds.  You’ll also meet many of its teachers and faculty. Two of them are presenting workshops at the Summer Institute:  Amy Coe and Ethan Segovia. Here’s more about them and what they will be presenting.

Nature, Nurture, Culture – Helping Students Succeed in the Classroom and Beyond, with Amy Coe, Assistant Dean of Academics.  This workshop is designed for teachers, administrators, counselors, and all those interested in developing a deeper understanding of the brain-based differences between boys and girls, and how to leverage those differences both inside and outside of the classroom to create an engaging and nurturing classroom and school culture where boys can not only learn but thrive.  The workshop is divided into three sections: The nature of boys – the brain-based differences based on Michael Gurian’s work; practical classroom strategies; strategies to nurture the nature of boys.

The Joys and Pitfalls of Incorporating Technology:  Strategies for the Digital Classroom and Home, with Ethan Segovia, Dean of Academics, Army and Navy Academy.  This workshop on the digital classroom and home provides tools to assist teachers, administrators, and parents with safe, useful, and essential digital learning.  Ethan will focus the workshop on student screen time, cell phone usage, acceptable use, and will also discuss the intersection of the science of sleep and nutrition with digital tools.

Many thanks to Army and Navy Academy for hosting us again this year, and all my gratitude to Ethan and Amy, too, for helping to organize the event.

To register for the Summer Institute, click https://gurianinstitute.com/gurian-summer-institute-2018/