Lisa VanDammeWhy My Daughter Withdrew Her Application to Ralston CollegeFor many of us fed up with the politics and inanity that have come to pollute our college campuses, the debut of Ralston College, with its…Feb 9, 20235Feb 9, 20235
Lisa VanDammeOn “Crime and Punishment”: Sympathy for the DevilA word of context. This is commentary written for members of my book group Read With Me. I believe strongly in an approach to commentary…Jan 13, 2019Jan 13, 2019
Lisa VanDammeThe Offense Implicit in Banning “Offensive Literature”“Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill a Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior — to innocence and…Dec 10, 20181Dec 10, 20181
Lisa VanDammeRead With Me: Crime and Punishment — A Sneak PreviewRead With Me is a free app I created (available for iPhone, Android, or as a web app) to put the classics, and my guidance through them…Dec 6, 2018Dec 6, 2018
Lisa VanDammeA Trajectory of GrowthRecently, one of the themes of discussion at VanDamme Academy has been “trajectories of growth.” We continually have to remind our…Sep 13, 20181Sep 13, 20181
Lisa VanDammeA Lesson for the Classroom from Advocates for Free SpeechI am the junior high literature teacher at VanDamme Academy, a school I founded in an effort to provide a program with greater intellectual…May 30, 2018May 30, 2018
Lisa VanDammeThe Literary MicroscopeMy book group Read With Me is currently reading Victor Hugo’s Notre-Dame de Paris. I was recently struck by a particular passage — because…Feb 24, 2018Feb 24, 2018
Lisa VanDamme“When Did I Learn How to Read?”When prospective families tour my school, they are often surprised to learn the following: With only a handful of exceptions over her…May 2, 20172May 2, 20172
Lisa VanDammeGOOD: An Antidote to OverparentingA few years ago, I met up with a friend at a coffee shop in San Diego. My friend was a lieutenant commander in the navy who had served as a…Aug 28, 20161Aug 28, 20161
Lisa VanDammeThe Teacher as a “Pygmalion of the Soul”Several years ago, I taught Pygmalion, by George Bernard Shaw, to a class of junior high students. Pygmalion is the story of a lowly flower…Feb 26, 20163Feb 26, 20163