Technology is changing faster than families can keep up. From social media to smartphones to the latest wave of AI “companions,” new tools are shaping how children think, connect, and even define friendship. In this episode, Chris McKenna, founder of Protect Young Eyes and a leading voice on digital safety, joins host Davies Owens to unpack what’s really happening and how parents and schools can respond with both truth and grace.

🎧 Tune in to hear:

• Why AI “friends” appeal so powerfully to teens and what’s really going on in the developing brain
• How to recognize and respond to the risks of AI companions and mature content online
• The three kinds of families in the digital age and what each can do today
• Chris’s HALT framework for course-correcting unhealthy tech habits
• Why it’s time to “be weird together” as parents and schools who choose community over conformity
• Simple, real-life “micro moves” families can make to model authentic, human connection

Technology may be accelerating, but parents are not powerless. Listeners will come away with a renewed sense of hope and concrete ways to model healthy technology use, foster real-world connection, and guide students toward wisdom in an increasingly digital world.

Special Thanks to our partners who make BaseCamp Live possible:

The Herzog Foundation
The Champion Group
ZipCast
Wilson Hill Academy
Life Architects Coaching

Stay tuned for more enlightening discussions on classical Christian education, and join us next time on BaseCamp Live! Remember to subscribe, leave us a review, and reach out to us at info@basecamplive.com

Don't forget to visit basecamplive.com for more info and past episodes.

Stay tuned for more enlightening discussions on classical Christian education, and join us next time on BaseCamp Live! Remember to subscribe, leave us a review, and reach out to us at info@basecamplive.com

Don't forget to visit basecamplive.com for more info and past episodes.

Can classical schools really prepare students for STEM careers? Many parents wonder if a humanities-rich education leaves room for science and technology. Our guest, Diane Gray, scientist, musician, contractor, tutor, and mother of seven, says yes. After 12 years in biotech R&D, Diane completed a master’s in Classical Studies to explore how classical Christian education and STEM can thrive together.

In this conversation with host Davies Owens, Diane shares her research comparing STEM and classical models, revealing that the two are not in competition, but complementary.

🎧 Tune in to discover:

• Why the fear that classical schools shortchange STEM is understandable, but misplaced
• How classical education forms curious, adaptable thinkers who excel in science and technology
• Why ethics, history, and philosophy are essential companions to innovation, especially in the age of AI
• How classical tools of learning (language, logic, rhetoric) strengthen problem-solving, communication, and creativity in STEM fields

Diane reminds us that the goal isn’t just to make scientists but whole humans who pursue truth and wisdom through their work.

🎧 Join us for this encouraging episode and see why classical formation might just be the best preparation for the modern lab.

Resources Mentioned:

• Science Education in the Modern World - Diane’s full dissertation

Special Thanks to our partners who make BaseCamp Live possible:

The Herzog Foundation
The Champion Group
ZipCast
Wilson Hill Academy
Life Architects Coaching

Stay tuned for more enlightening discussions on classical Christian education, and join us next time on BaseCamp Live! Remember to subscribe, leave us a review, and reach out to us at info@basecamplive.com

Don't forget to visit basecamplive.com for more info and past episodes.

Davies Owens welcomes Ken Rhinehart, a commercial real-estate veteran and founder of VPA Classical, to demystify how classical schools can find, fund, and secure facilities that actually serve the mission.

🎧 In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why facilities shape formation. Leases, landlords, and leaking roofs quietly undermine learning—and enrollment confidence.
• Buy vs. lease—what’s wiser right now. Capital costs, lender track records, conditional-use permits, and the hidden time drain on administrators.
• Mission-aligned investors. How long-term, praying partners can acquire and rehab properties, then lease back to schools—sometimes with lease-to-own pathways.
• Church properties: promise & pitfalls. Beautiful sanctuaries can work—if governance, improvements, and expectations are clear.
• What not to do. Don’t hand this to the office admin or your residential-agent brother-in-law—commercial leasing is a different language.
• A generous freebie. Ken offers a no-cost lease review so schools actually know what’s in their agreements.

If this episode sparks ideas, forward it to your head of school, board chair, or facilities lead. Rate and follow BaseCamp Live so other schools can find it, and tell us the #1 facilities question you want answered next.

Resources Mentioned:

• RSVP Now for ADVANCE Retreat

Special Thanks to our partners who make BaseCamp Live possible:

The Herzog Foundation
The Champion Group
ZipCast
Wilson Hill Academy
Life Architects Coaching

Stay tuned for more enlightening discussions on classical Christian education, and join us next time on BaseCamp Live! Remember to subscribe, leave us a review, and reach out to us at info@basecamplive.com

Don't forget to visit basecamplive.com for more info and past episodes.

We live in a culture of soundbites, but Christian parents and educators are called to form young people who listen well, think deeply, and speak with humility and grace. Host Davies Owens sits down with Dr. Justin Smith, Head of School at Little Rock Christian Academy and Herzog Foundation coach, to unpack the Harkness Method (a modern form of Socratic dialogue) and why it may be one of the most vital forms of discipleship in our time.

In this conversation:

• Harkness vs. Socratic: what’s the same, what’s different, and how each keeps the text at the center rather than opinion.
• Truth matters: how Christ-centered schools avoid “bad talk radio” and anchor discussion in authorial intent, Scripture, and absolute truth.
• Formation over performance: why silence, restraint, and student discovery create stickier learning than efficient lectures.
• K–12 on-ramps: how Justin’s team trains 7th–12th graders in names, manners, eye contact, question stems, and textual evidence.
• Home practices: simple dinner-table question bowls, “roses & thorns,” and “heaven & earth” prompts that cultivate a household of inquiry.

🎧 Join Davies Owens and Jacob Hess as they unpack how to fill our homes and classrooms with better stories that train hearts to love what God loves.

Special Thanks to our partners who make BaseCamp Live possible:

The Herzog Foundation
Schedule an introduction with Champion Group
ZipCast
Wilson Hill Academy
Life Architects Coaching

Stay tuned for more enlightening discussions on classical Christian education, and join us next time on BaseCamp Live! Remember to subscribe, leave us a review, and reach out to us at info@basecamplive.com

Don't forget to visit basecamplive.com for more info and past episodes.

In this Best of BaseCamp Live flashback, host Davies Owens sits down with pastor, musician, and author Jacob Hess to explore how story, liturgy, and imagination shape the hearts of our children - and why the stories we tell matter now more than ever. 🎧

In this episode:

• Life is liturgy: how small, repeatable rituals - at dinner, in class, or before bed—tell the Gospel story.
• Formation over information: why habits shape what we love (Charlotte Mason; James K. A. Smith).
• Worship in every moment: practical ways to make the ordinary sacred using tools like Every Moment Holy.
• Why fiction matters: Jacob’s The Bright Abyss (think Star Wars meets Tolkien) as a case study in shaping imagination.
• A takeaway for this week: identify one small ritual that tells a better story—and practice it faithfully.

🎧 Join Davies Owens and Jacob Hess as they unpack how to fill our homes and classrooms with better stories that train hearts to love what God loves.

Resources Mentioned:

• The Bright Abyss
• RSVP Now for ADVANCE Retreat

Special Thanks to our partners who make BaseCamp Live possible:

The Herzog Foundation
The Champion Group
ZipCast
Wilson Hill Academy
Life Architects Coaching

Stay tuned for more enlightening discussions on classical Christian education, and join us next time on BaseCamp Live! Remember to subscribe, leave us a review, and reach out to us at info@basecamplive.com

Don't forget to visit basecamplive.com for more info and past episodes.

What does it mean to be a woman today? Our culture has turned this into a debate, but for many young women—especially in Christian homes and schools—the real struggle comes in sorting through competing voices, conflicting priorities, and a lack of clear role models.

In this episode of BaseCamp Live, Davies sits down with his daughter, Hannah Owens, founder of The Swish Magazine. Drawing from her own classical Christian upbringing, Hannah shares how she came face-to-face with the confusion around womanhood in her Gen Z college years and why she’s now committed to recovering a vision of classical femininity—the preservation and reflection of truth, goodness, and beauty in womanhood.

Together they discuss:

• Why Gen Z women often prioritize career over marriage and family—and what that reveals about cultural messaging.
• The gap between “pioneer bonnets” and modern feminism—and why girls need something more rooted and hopeful in between.
• How role models, from Princess Catherine to contemporary Christian entrepreneurs, can embody duty, beauty, and service.
• Practical ways parents and schools can guide daughters toward confident, Christ-centered womanhood.

From family photo walls to auditing media habits, Hannah offers tangible steps to help reframe femininity not as performance, but as calling. This is a conversation for parents, educators, and young women alike who long to celebrate the true, good, and beautiful in a culture that has lost its way.

Special Thanks to our partners who make BaseCamp Live possible:

The Herzog Foundation
The Champion Group
ZipCast
Wilson Hill Academy
Life Architects Coaching

Stay tuned for more enlightening discussions on classical Christian education, and join us next time on BaseCamp Live! Remember to subscribe, leave us a review, and reach out to us at info@basecamplive.com

Don't forget to visit basecamplive.com for more info and past episodes.

What role do the arts really play in a classical Christian education? For many of us, “art class” growing up felt like a filler - something fun, but hardly central to learning. Music, theater, and visual art were often seen as side activities, not essential to shaping minds and hearts. But as guest Jarrod Richey reminds us, that view couldn’t be further from the historic Christian tradition.

Jarrod - music teacher at Geneva Academy, author of Bach to the Future and editor of Raise the Song - makes the case that the creative arts are not extras but vital ways we reflect our Creator and form our children’s affections. He explains why hymn-singing, music literacy, and participatory art are as essential to discipleship as books and doctrine, helping students love what is true, good, and beautiful in tangible ways.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Why the church historically led the way in the arts—and why we need to reclaim that vision today
• How hymns carry theology, unity, and gratitude across generations
• Why music literacy is a core skill, not an optional enrichment
• Practical ways families and schools can weave rich music and art into daily life

The arts aren’t just about self-expression - they are about imaging God and passing on the faith. Don’t miss this inspiring conversation about recovering beauty in education, worship, and the home.

Resources Mentioned:

• Raise the Song
• Bach to the Future

Special Thanks to our partners who make BaseCamp Live possible:

The Herzog Foundation
The Champion Group
ZipCast
Wilson Hill Academy
Life Architects Coaching

Stay tuned for more enlightening discussions on classical Christian education, and join us next time on BaseCamp Live! Remember to subscribe, leave us a review, and reach out to us at info@basecamplive.com

Don't forget to visit basecamplive.com for more info and past episodes.

One of the biggest decisions parents make is where their children go to school. With classrooms shaping faith, wisdom, and character, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

In this episode of BaseCamp Live with Davies Owens, President of the Stanley M. Herzog Foundation Darrell Jones, shares how one man’s vision has grown into a nationwide movement for Christ-centered education. From his years as a pastor to leading one of the most influential organizations in the space, Darrell offers a front-row look at what’s changing in public education, why families and pastors are seeking new options, and how the Herzog Foundation is stepping in with practical support.

Discover:

• Why the “yellow bus” may look the same but is headed to a very different destination than a generation ago
• How the Herzog Foundation Institute is equipping schools with free training and resources
• The role of parents, pastors, and schools in raising up salt-and-light disciples
• Why the rapid growth of Christian education is more than a trend - it’s a movement

🎧 Join us as we explore how the Herzog Foundation is helping families and schools build the next generation with wisdom and faith.

Resources Mentioned:

Schedule an introduction with Champion Group

Special Thanks to our partners who make BaseCamp Live possible:

The Herzog Foundation
The Champion Group
ZipCast
Wilson Hill Academy
Life Architects Coaching

Stay tuned for more enlightening discussions on classical Christian education, and join us next time on BaseCamp Live! Remember to subscribe, leave us a review, and reach out to us at info@basecamplive.com

Don't forget to visit basecamplive.com for more info and past episodes.