Forged: Timeless Ways of Living
The Ranger, the Teacher, and the Farmer: Forging a Coherent Life with Doug Woolery
In this episode of Forged, host Brian Williams speaks with Doug Woolery—Army Ranger, teacher, coach, and farmer—about a life shaped by service, learning, and faith. Doug reflects on his journey from the military to the classroom, the impact of male educators, the importance of parental involvement, and the quiet lessons of farming. Drawing on his experiences as a parent and grandparent, he shares insights on coherence, contentment, and living a well-rounded life.
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Grit, Loyalty, and Poetry: How Classical Education Shaped a Future Army Leader
One day at a classical school changed the course of her life.
In seventh grade, Sarah spent a single day shadowing at Jackson Hole Classical Academy. She says she learned more that day than in the seven years of school before it.
What followed was an education in great books, Latin, and poetry learned by heart, including Rudyard Kipling's "If-" Years later, when Sarah arrived at West Point to train as an Army officer, she found that same poem on the walls of the barracks.
Today, Sarah is a West Point graduate preparing to lead a platoon of soldiers. Her story shows what classical education is for: forming young people who know what's right, do what's right, and give of themselves in service to others.
Teaching Children the Fruit of Longsuffering
A new generation of parents has arrived, people who love their children more visibly, more anxiously, and more attentively than perhaps any generation before them. They read the books, they watch for the warning signs, and they would lay down almost anything for the good of the child in front of them. Yet many of these same parents struggle to tell the difference between play and scholé , or between protecting a child from cruelty and protecting a child from difficulty. These are not the same acts of love. One forms a soul while the other, however tenderly intended, can quietly deform it.
Will Sports Prepare Me for Life?
Character developed in sports may not impact life outside of sports.