The First Demonstrations

Students on the California High School Summer Program today had their first taste of Thomas Aquinas College’s approach to mathematics — which makes it unique among many Catholic colleges in the country.

Rather than merely discuss the text of The Elements, tutors at the College ask students to take to the chalkboard and present Euclid’s arguments step-by-step. Last night, programmers walked through the demonstration process with their prefects, and today their hard work came to fruition. Students successfully presented the first three propositions: building an equilateral triangle, as well as cutting and drawing lines equal to given lines.  

After presenting the theorems, sections discussed them, posing questions about how Euclid understands and deploys his concepts and how each theorem builds on previous ones. Even in their first class alone, programmers realized that Euclid’s work, like mathematics itself, offers a new world of possibilities and imagination guided by logic — hardly the sterile thing many assume it to be! Conversations spilled from the classroom into St. Joseph Commons, where such thoughts held the topic of discussion for many tables over a lunch of Philly cheesesteak sandwiches.

Before the next class, students had an opportunity to learn more about the College’s program of study at a meeting with Admissions Director Jon Daly. Mr. Daly emphasized that, though Catholic liberal education is a great good in itself, the critical thinking and rhetorical skills refined through the Discussion Method equip the College’s graduates to thrive in any vocation or workplace.

This afternoon, students are relaxing on and off campus. The women of the Summer Program are on a mini-excursion to nearby Santa Paula, while the men have sundry outdoor activities waiting on the athletic fields and elsewhere. Read about these and more Tuesday morning the Summer Program Blog!