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The Institute’s third annual Academic Retreat for Teachers, held July 12 – 17, 2009, was definitely our most successful. Seventeen diocesan and independent Catholic school educators joined four Retreat leaders for a wonderful week exploring the theme, “Truth and Joy in the Catholic School.”

Our previous experience and participant feedback had led us to make several alterations to the syllabus. We added sessions on Recovering a Catholic Philosophy of Elementary Education, The Lost Tools of Learning, and the Summa Theologiae. As the 2009 feedback forms witnessed, these changes made for an altogether extraordinary experience.

I thoroughly enjoyed this retreat. It was a refreshing combination of challenging academics and spirituality. I learned more in five days than I would learn in 5 semesters at many universities.

The retreat provided me with an opportunity to think without distractions. It was an opportunity to reflect and exchange insights. I have benefited in that my brain is awake and I am energized to step back into the classroom. The energy from the retreat will trickle down through the school.

This year, we had the blessing of working with several schools that sent more than one educator to the conference. Those who came with their colleagues benefitted from being able to share ideas with each other about what they were learning and how they can implement it back in their own schools. Several participants expressed a great desire to have Institute workshops at their schools in the future.

Dr. Arthur Hippler Joins Institute as Academic Associate

Dr. Arthur Hippler joined Dr. Andrew Seeley and Dr. David Fleischacker to lead this year’s Retreat. His presentation of the connection between a Catholic understanding of the human person and Catholic education was enthusiastically received by participants. Dr. Hippler will lead some of the Institute’s in-service workshops this year.

Dr. Arthur Hippler is chairman of the Department of Theology and teaches religion in the Upper School at Providence Academy. Since 2001, he has been a visiting professor with the Institute for Pastoral Theology of Ave Maria University. Before coming to Providence Academy, he served the Catholic Diocese of La Crosse (Wisconsin), teaching moral theology and social ethics in the diocesan programs for lay formation and continuing education for teachers. He is the author of Citizens of the Heavenly City: A Catechism of Catholic Social Teaching, published by Borromeo Books. He received his bachelor's in liberal arts from Thomas Aquinas College in California, and his doctorate in philosophy from Boston College.