What does it mean to build a school and a life shaped by community, conviction, and daily rhythms of grace? In this episode, Madeleine Hewitt, Assistant Head of School at Claritas Classical Christian Academy, shares her journey through education, motherhood, and mentorship, and how each has shaped the other. She reflects on the challenges of idealism, the power of guiding principles, and the formative role of liturgy in everyday life. Madeleine closes by reading Gerard Manley Hopkins beautifully, capturing the wonder and weight of it all.

Emily Maeda, mother of seven, grandmother of two, describes the living patterns in her life, passed down from her own mother, that have helped her in raising her children, starting a school, and designing gardens for now and for posterity.

In the inaugural episode of the Forged and Composed podcasts, our hosts come together for a conversation about what it means to “forge” and “compose” a life marked by beauty, order, and purpose. Their dialogue explores human flourishing, focal practices, and the formative power of beauty, art, and community. Drawing on personal experience, they reflect on hospitality, generosity, nature, and the role of exemplars in shaping lives marked by meaning and fulfillment. Join us at the beginning.