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Teaching the Good Podcast

 
 
We are proud to announce the release of St. Petersburg Catholic's Teaching the Good podcast with hosts Dr. Lily Abadal and Shelby Cala!
 
teaching the good
 
Is is our hope that this podcast will help members of the Baron family (and beyond!) form a deeper sense of mission and purpose in their support of SPC and catholic education more generally. We encourage faculty, staff, catholic educators, current, and prospective families to join the discussion by listening each week! This is also a great way to learn how the Holy Spirit is moving through our school! Episodes are roughly 15 minutes long and are a nice accompaniment to your morning/afternoon commute. See below for a description and a link to our episodes!
 
Description: Teaching the good will explore the challenges, joys, and importance of educating young catholics in a secular world. Our intention is to be a resource and provide virtual community for catholic educators, parents, and all those striving to better understand how young people become virtuous at St. Petersburg Catholic High School and beyond.
 
Meet the Hosts: 
 
Dr. Lily Abadal is the Director of Advancement at St. Petersburg Catholic High School. Lily has a doctorate in philosophy with a specialization in virtue ethics. In addition to working at St. Petersburg Catholic, she teaches philosophy at Florida Gulf Coast University and is currently working on a publication exploring moral issues surrounding fundraising at not-for-profit institutions. 
 
Shelby Cala is the Assistant Director of Advancement at St. Petersburg Catholic High School. Shelby has a BS in Communications from the University of South Florida. When she isn't fundraising or working on podcasts, Shelby spends her time with her husband and young son. 
 
         Producer: Shelby Cala
         IT Support: John Kowalik
 
How Can I Listen? You can find our podcast by searching "Teaching the Good" on your apple or android podcast app. You can also access episodes from your desktop by visiting this website. Episodes are available now!
 
 
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In this first episode you get an opportunity to meet the hosts of Teaching the Good! We recommend giving this a listen before you venture into our other episodes!
 
In this episode Lily & Will discuss what is meant by "value neutral" education and why it is a myth. Ultimately, they come to the conclusion that all educational institutions teach values in some way, even secular schools. The important choice for parents is discerning what *kind* of values you want your kids learning. 
 
In this episode our hosts explore the importance of community in education and how students need to be physically present with teachers in order to learn virtue. They also discuss the difference between teaching content knowledge and providing a robust education--one has the possibility of being done alone while the other does not. 
 
In this episode the connection between failure and virtue formation is explored. Why is it important that to recognize failure as a possibility and reality in education? What is the goal of education--earning high marks or allowing students to realize their limitations, opportunities for growth, and potential for virtue development? 
 
What is virtue? How do we help form virtuous students? Why is virtue relevant in Catholic education? Is kombucha alive? In this episode Lily & Will discuss the answers to these questions while diving into the four parts of virtue as defined by Aristotle.
 
What does it mean to be truly authentic? How do we live out our lives authentically in a world that constantly tells us to be something else? In this episode Will learns about Açaí bowls as he and Dr. Abadal discuss the virtue of authenticity. 
 

This week Lily & Will discuss Rituals. How do they help form us in virtue? Where is their place in our Catholic faith? How can they facilitate a more meaningful classroom experience? Tune in for answers to all these questions plus a little bonus content at the beginning of this episode! 

 
This week Lily breaks the "Yes, No" game while she and Will discuss the desire to learn. Is it natural? Is it good? Do students today even possess it? Tune in!
 
This week on Teaching the Good "The Doc" & "The Dude" discuss the concept of moral imagination. Before diving into that though, will has an existential crisis when he discovers that he's basic. 
 
Sloth, laziness, apathy. This week Lily & Will discuss “acedia”, the impact it has on us, and ways to combat it. Also, a hot take on Monopoly -- it’s the worst.
 
This week, join The Doc & The Dude as they navigate the complexities of rest. You may be thinking “What’s so complicated about rest?” Well, you haven’t discussed it with these two yet.
 
Life is full of big decisions that can be difficult to navigate. Thankfully, Lily & Will are here to give some insight as to how we can make our way through these big decisions and come out the other side looking a little more like Christ.
 
Educating children doesn't just happen in the classroom. In fact, most education takes place outside of the classroom! This week The Doc, Lily Abadal, & The Dude, Will Kuehnle, *graciously* discuss the role of parents as primary educators. 
 
Christ the Teacher: What does He teach? How does He teach? Why does He teach it? This week Lily & Will examine these questions plus another hot take from Will -- Jesus may have been unattractive. Tune in! 
 
Thanksgiving is known for many things -- turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and awkward, high tension conversations with relatives. The Doc & The Dude are here to help us navigate these tough conversations this year, and, hopefully, help us come out the other side looking a little more like Christ. 
 

What does true humility look like? How does humility play a part in the classroom? Join The Doc & The Dude this week as they dive into the answers to these questions and more!

 

It’s the second week of Advent which means we’re talking about hope-- the forgotten virtue. Tune in as The Doc & The Dude shed some light on this virtue and discuss its place in the classroom.
 
This week we're all learning about Joy! The third week of Advent invites us to welcome joy into our lives. How do we do that though? Is it through receiving gifts, holiday feasts, or something else? Dr. Abadal & Mr. Kuehnle hash out the details in this week's episode of Teaching the Good.
 
Christmas is right around the corner, and if you're anything like Dr. Abadal, your patience is wearing thin. Join The Doc & The Dude this week as they discuss patience, particularly around the season of Advent.
 
Stick around at the end of the episode for a very special performance by some of our students!
 
 
Check out the SPCHS Christmas Carol playlist here!
 

Sometimes it seems like the only New Year's resolution we can keep is breaking our New Year's resolution. This week, Lily & Will help us understand how to form habits, and *hopefully* how to keep our New Year's resolution! 

 

Taking in a beautiful scenery. Interacting with a person who just seems to overflow with joy. Listening to a baby belly laugh. Some things in life just leave us awestruck, and that's exactly what Lily & Will are going to talk about this week -- Wonder & Awe. Join our dynamic duo as they dive into Teaching the Good's first two part episode. This week, they discuss Wonder, what it is, and how we can find it in our lives. Next week they'll break open ways that this fruit of the Holy Spirit works in our homes and classrooms. 
 
Last week we learned what wonder is. This week Lily & Will break down how it can be influential in the classroom. Avocados, biology, the podcast's first ever bleeped word, Will gives us more information about his eating habits, this episode has it all. Buckle up, everyone, it's Teaching the Good. 
 
 

Forgiveness -- it's never easy, always necessary, and definitely the key to living out our call as Christians. This week Lily & Will explore the integral role forgiveness plays in our Catholic faith and how we can practice forgiveness especially amid turbulent times. 

 

BONUS: Check out the NYT Sugar Cookie recipe that Will talks about here!

 

To kick off Catholic Schools Week The Doc & The Dude are talking about one of the most foundational aspects of Catholic Education -- dignity of the human person. Join our dynamic duo as they get to the heart of what it means to value our students for exactly who they are. 

 

This week kicked off Black History Month and is also Catholic Schools Week! To honor and celebrate both of these moments, Lily & Will did a little something different. Join your favorite hosts as they cover the biography of Venerable Henriette DeLille! 


If you'd like to learn more about Henriette DeLille, check out the following sources:

 
 
New Orleans based-publications: 
 

Space, not the "final frontier" kind, but the spaces all around us.

This is the conversational voyage of Lily & Will.

It's about a 20 minute mission

to explain the ways that the intentional, or unintentional, use of space can impact the way we worship,

the way our students learn.

To boldly discuss the importance of architecture & how it can shape our interactions with the world.

 

As we enter the season of Lent, we'll hear often about the three pillars of the season -- prayer, fasting, & almsgiving. For many, almsgiving brings up a bit of a question mark. The Doc & The Dude are here to clear up the confusion around why we emphasize almsgiving, especially during this Lenten season. 

 

Tuck your shirt in. No running in the halls. Raise your hand. We all know the classic school rules, but do we know why they matter? This week The Doc & The Dude discuss the importance of rules & discipline & how these experiences form our students.

 

Additionally, Teaching the Good is taking a week off and there will NOT be a new episode released on March 7th. Instead, we encourage all of our listeners to join SPCHS on Saturday, March 6th, for our Baron Gala! This is our first ever virtual Gala and we hope that you will attend and invite all of our friends to do the same. Visit www.qtego.net/qlink/spchs to register for the event and take a look at all of our silent auction items. You can also visit www.spchs.org/galatix/ to see all of the other ways you can get involved with this event. We look forward to having you join us virtually on March 6th at 6:00pm!

 

Join us this week as Lily & Will discuss language -- how we use it, how we SHOULD use it, and how it plays a part in our lives as Christians. 

 

This week we're talking about authority! Lily & Will discuss how authority plays a role in the classroom and how we can re-orient our view to truly focus on what matters -- Christ.

 

In case the title didn't give it away, we recorded on Will's birthday! Listen this week as the Birthday Dude and the Doc discuss Intellectual Virtues, plus a little birthday celebration. 
 
 
This week, Lily & Will discuss some practical prayer practices that will help us all stay on the road toward holiness. 
 
This week The Doc & The Dude pick up on a conversation they left a couple of episodes back-- Intellectual vs. Moral Virtues! More specifically, they'll be discussing the question that may not be age old, but is definitely interesting, "Are smart people nice?" This week we also missed a little something. Can you spot what it is? Email us if you figure it out! teachingthegoodpodcast@gmail.com
 

The pandemic year has certainly made us all aware of boundaries, the physical ones, but we may not be as well acquainted with emotional and mental boundaries. This week, your Teaching the Good hosts cover the necessity for setting clear boundaries in our personal lives, and their relevance in the classroom. 

 

We all know about IQ, but what do we know about EQ? This week, Lily & Will discuss emotional intelligence -- what it is and how parents & teachers can help young people to develop theirs in a healthy way. 
 

This week your Teaching the Good hosts talk about courage! In light of last week's celebration of Good Shepherd Sunday the two explore how courage/fortitude play into our everyday lives and the lives of our students & teachers.

 

The day to day can seem monotonous and it can be difficult to feel truly joyful about every day life. This week, Lily & Will help us re-orient our thinking so that we can begin to prioritize, as St. Augustine would say, our order of loves. Tune in! 
 
Last week was Mother's Day! Since we completely overlooked it (whoops!), please join us this week as we celebrate our main mama, Mary! 
 
Congratulations to our SPCHS Class of 2021! We are so excited to celebrate this year's graduation that we dedicated an entire episode to it! Settle in this week with The Doc & The Dude as they reflect on some graduation memories of their own and chat about the importance of the graduation ceremony. 
 
When it comes to the end of the school year, this one especially, it seems like everyone is limping towards the finish line. Burnout is real, and amid one of the most difficult years many of us have ever had, it can be challenging to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thankfully, The Doc & The Dude are here to help us finish the race with, not just our sanity, but a few examples to look towards as inspiration to stay the course and see the year through to the end. 
 
We have a HUGE announcement, so stay tuned to the end of the episode for a message from Will. But before that, this week we have a guest! Former student, Sonny Russano, stopped by campus and we took the opportunity to interview him and see how St. Pete Catholic helped prepare him for college.
 

Big things are happening on Teaching The Good! Join us this week as we say goodbye to The Dude, Will Kuehnle! We also take some time to get to know The Dudette, Shelby Cala!

 

We have a new host! This week hosts, Dr. Lily Abadal & Shelby Cala talk about friendship. Friendship is an essential part of life, and true friendship, friendship of the good, is essential for living virtuously and ultimately reaching heaven. Listen this week as your hosts of Teaching the Good dive into what a truly "Good" friendship looks like. 

 
This week Lily & Shelby reflect on the "Excellent Sheep" speech given by author & Ivy League professor,William Deresiewicz. This will be one of several episodes centered around the talk and this week the focus is on becoming an effective leader!
 

We're talking about reading! This week we dive into another theme from William Deresiewicz's speech "Excellent Sheep" and learn how sustained reading can help us become more virtuous people. 

 

We're back! This week we're wrapping up our series on William Deresiewicz's speech "Excellent Sheep". So far we've learned how to become effective leaders through two of three practices: reading and developing friendships. This week we cover the third practice, introspection. Listen in as we dive deep into what it means to think about what we think!
 
We're talking about self mastery! How does one truly become the best version of themselves? Listen up, because Lily & Shelby are going to tell you, or at the very least, they're going to make you laugh. 
 
This week, join Lily & Shelby as they discuss the Immaculate Heart of Mary! What is it? What does it stand for? How can we use it as an example to help form our own lives? Your dynamic duo answers all of these questions and more in this episode of Teaching the Good.
 
We're talking authenticity this week! Listen in as Shelby & Lily dive deep into what it means to be truly authentic. Does true authenticity just mean "whatever floats your boat", or is there more to it than that? Answers abound in this week's episode of Teaching the Good.
 
What's the difference between compassion & pity? How do we help create compassionate leaders? Tune in this week as Lily & Shelby dive into the answers.
 
This week, join your hosts, Dr. Lily Abadal & Shelby Cala, as they discuss the virtue of fortitude. What is fortitude and why is it important to help cultivate this virtue in our young people? Tune in and find out!
 

We're talking about humility this week! Listen in as Lily & Shelby bring a lot of knowledge and even more laughs. We'll dive into why humility is such a key component of our mission here at SPCHS -- to create Christ-centered leaders for the modern world. 

 

This week we're covering our fifth and final SPCHS core virtue: wisdom! Listen in as Lily & Shelby bring the info and the laughs.
 

We're back! After a brief hiatus, Lily & Shelby are back and this week we're talking about balance! How do we incorporate balance into our lives? Why is balance important in the lives of our students? Tune in and find out!

 

This week we're talkin' teamwork! Tune in as Shelby & Lily dig into the differences between discussion & dialogue and reveal just how crucial good teamwork is.