Plugged In - The Official Podcast for JSerra Catholic High School

Cara Morales believes that waiting is a necessary part of life and that if we embrace it with the right attitude it not only makes us stronger — it leads us to Christ. Usually, Cara says, we are not very good at waiting. Advent, however, the season of preparation for Christmas, gives us the chance year after year to embrace the reality of waiting and to ask Jesus to wait with us. Cara gives us three practical tips that will focus our hearts and lives on the expectant hope of Jesus in the days leading up to His coming this Christmas.

ABOUT THE GUEST Cara Morales is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who divides her career between her private practice and parent coaching. A Franciscan University graduate, Cara was the founding member of JSerra's theology department and campus ministry program. Additionally, she crafted a vision for JSerra to become one of the first high school's in the country to provide full-time on-campus professional therapy, a practice she sees as increasingly more critical given the continual breakdown of the family. Cara now resides with her husband and three children in Idaho, where she continues to counsel clients and coach parents though her growing Facebook ministry: Powerfully Connected Parenting Tweens and Teens.

JSerra's new Virtue Program has been a smash hit with students and staff, but three months into the project, some parents are asking, "Weren't you doing enough?" JSerra History Teacher, Sr. John Michael of the Dominican Sisters of Ann Arbor, gives a dynamic overview of the big picture around virtues and shares some concrete stories of the fruit it is bearing in the lives of our students. Tune in and get the inside scoop from one of the architects and boots-on-the-ground practitioners of the Dominican Sisters only high school virtue program in the nation.

ABOUT THE GUEST Sister John Michael has been in religious life for over ten years. For the past three of those years she has been a JSerra student favorite as a U.S. History and World History instructor. Sister has been pivotal pioneer of the Dominican Virtue Program being piloted on the high school level at JSerra. She grew up near Kansas City, Missouri with four sisters and a brother and enjoys many hobbies — not least of which are hiking, kayaking, playing guitar, piano, and just about every sport.

Bridget Desmond raised ten children, but that is only a small part of her role as a shaper of young people's lives. In her 16 years as Dean of Discipline at JSerra, she has had thousands of conversations with teenagers about the virtues they are made for and the behaviors that do — or do not — help them reach that destiny.

In this 12-minute mini-podcast, Mrs. Desmond shares her wisdom regarding:

• The "why" and "how" of discipline within a Catholic framework
• What virtue-based discipline means
• How to discipline with love
• What teens who act out are really saying to adults
• Tips for parents on disciplining with long-term human formation in mind

Enjoy this brief conversation with a veteran in forming young people.

ABOUT THE GUEST Bridget Desmond, JD, graduated from Loyola University of Los Angeles and attended Loyola Law School. For many years, she was the only woman in an otherwise all-male law firm, practicing law from 1974 through 1983. She joined the staff of JSerra Catholic High School in September of 2005 and has served for the past 16 years as one of the school's two Deans of Discipline. More significantly, she is happily married with 10 children and 21 grandchildren.

Studies show that affluency, strong skill sets, and the school our children attend are not the most important factors for achieving health, wealth, and happiness. Dr. Leonard Sax shares new findings on the causes of adolescent stress, anxiety, and long-term unhappiness and offers evidence-based criteria for what most impacts a person's long-term personal and professional success.

In this enjoyable and candid conversation, he and special guest, his 9th-grade daughter Sarah, explore the most dangerous cultural threats to our teens' flourishing and offer father-daughter insights about how parents and their high school aged children can navigate safely and securely past these current cultural hazard.

ABOUT THE GUEST Dr. Leonard Sax provided care for children and adults in a family practice outside Washington, D.C, for more than 18 years. He has spent two decades visiting over 400 schools to research the causes of American adolescent's decline in academic performance and social-emotional well-being.

For the past 17 years, Dr. Sax has led workshops, authored books, and given keynotes to address the conclusions of his research. He has been a guest on countless national and international media sources, including the TODAY Show (five times), CNN (three times), Headline News, PBS, Fox News (four times), NPR's Weekend Edition, and the BBC. His books include Why Gender Matters, Boys Adrift, Girls on the Edge, and The Collapse of Parenting, a New York Times bestseller.

Opinions from Americans vary widely on the subject of Black History Month. Some Black Americans themselves think it does an injustice to their place in our nation's history; others see it as a necessary means for giving adequate honor to their invaluable and often unrecognized contributions. What should Catholic schools do? In this podcast, Fr. Claude Williams shares his view on a topic of increasing tension within our culture. Tune in and hear about how he as a life-long Catholic, long-time educator, and a dedicated follower of Christ addresses this and other matters that touch on the delicate and often contentious issue of race and racial reconciliation.

ABOUT THE GUEST Father Claude Williams, O.Praem., is a native of New Orleans. After attending Catholic schools from kindergarten through his sophomore year in college, he joined the Norbertine order and was ordained a Catholic priest in 2009. Fr. Claude has spent most of his priesthood in Catholic education, as a classroom teacher, Vice Dean for Students, and now as Rector of Saints Peter and Paul School in Wilmington, California. In his parish work, Father ministers to Italian, Spanish, African American, and Latin Mass communities. In addition to school ministry during the week, he provides weekend sacramental assistance to Transfiguration Church in Los Angeles. Father held the honor of being Chairperson of Liturgy for the 2017 National Black Catholic Congress. For leisure, he enjoys traveling and spending time with his Norbertine community.

What makes Catholic schools what they are? What's the secret to their success? Dominican Sister, Sr. Maria Catherine, shares her insights about the exceptional qualities students and their families are finding as they make their way in large numbers to Catholic schools, many for the first time.

A product of the public school system herself, Sister explains the reticence she had to Catholic education – even after she made her religious vows – and the surprise she experienced when she finally saw firsthand what Catholic schools were all about. Listen in as she unpacks the unique model of forming students for lifelong happiness that are at the center of JSerra and all strong Catholic schools.

ABOUT THE GUEST Sr. Maria Catherine, O.P. is from the great state of Texas. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin, she worked in various industries but mainly banking and administration before entering the convent. Sister has traveled widely and has been one of a few representatives of her community on The Oprah Winfrey Show. She is a published author in the Catholic San Francisco, The Imaginative Conservative, and Homiletic and Pastoral Review. She loves teaching English and Theology and continues to be grateful for the opportunity to study Aquinas at Ave Maria University. She is currently teaching English at JSerra Catholic High School.

Tune in as licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and founding JSerra faculty member, Cara Morales, goes toe to toe with the number one challenge facing parents today: their relationship with their teenagers. She offers inspiring insights on the centrality of strong relationships for our children's success in school and beyond, and explains why our connection with them is their best hope for navigating a jarringly secular culture and achieving overall happiness. She also shares tricks and tips for building bonds with teen children that will produce behaviors and outcomes every parent wants for their sons and daughters.

ABOUT THE GUEST Cara Morales is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who divides her career between her private practice and JSerra Catholic High School. A wife and mother of three, she is the founding member of JSerra's Theology Department and Campus Ministry program. Additionally, she crafted a vision for JSerra to become one of the first high schools in the country to provide full-time, on-campus professional therapy — a practice she sees as increasingly more critical given the ongoing breakdown of the family. She spearheads JSerra's original seminar series for students called Identity Formation, which creates co-institutional small groups that carry out conversations with teens about the cultural toxins that challenge their faith and values. Recently she launched a Facebook page for parent support called Cultivating Character through Parental Connection.

Kevin Matthews is a Chicago radio legend known for hilarious characters, outlandish pranks, huge comedy festivals, and wild parties with celebrities. After being diagnosed with MS in 2008, he began to take his faith more seriously. In 2011, standing outside a flower shop, he spotted a statue lying beside a dumpster. It was a statue of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, broken in two and missing her hands. Dumbfounded by the disrespect shown the statue, he took it home. From that moment on, Kevin began to experience the unmistakable presence of God and the urgent need to tell everyone he could about the love of Jesus and his Mother. Join him as he recounts his remarkable discovery of the transforming power of Broken Mary.

ABOUT THE GUEST Kevin Matthews spent 17 years as the drive-time radio host for AM 1000 The Loop, and ABC and CBS radio in Chicago. The man behind the voice of a host of characters including his sidekick sports commentator, Jim Shorts, Matthews entertained ten million listeners weekly. During his time on radio, he regularly performed comedy shows to sold out crowds, and performed one summer before 65,000 fans in downtown Chicago. He has entertained hundreds of thousands of people at prisons, at army bases, and in neighborhood backyards. His celebrity promotions included comedy jams, concerts with his band, barbeque throw downs, and golf outings. Kevin has traveled the world, befriended the rich and famous, helped countless charities, and had babies named after him. Having returned fully to his Catholic faith, he now travels regularly to Midwest parishes promoting devotion to Jesus Christ through Broken Mary. Kevin and his wife Debra have two children and three grandchildren, and reside in Michigan.

George Floyd's death sparked an avalanche of protests around the nation aimed at ending police brutality and anti-black racism. What has ensued has been an inflammatory and divisive public discussion about systemic racism, the origins of Black Lives Matter, statistics on police shootings, and the validity or invalidity of White Fragility. During this in-depth podcast, Damon Owens speaks candidly from his vantage point as a Black American and from his convictions as a follower of Christ. With honesty and substance, Damon explains why many Black Americans feel the way they do at this time in history and why a genuine Catholic response offers the only way forward to authentic interracial healing.

ABOUT THE GUEST Damon Owens is an international speaker, evangelist, and the executive director of Joyful Ever After, a ministry for married couples. Since leaving a successful career as an engineer, he has spent the good part of 20 years ministering to people in need of healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation. For the past year and a half, he has dedicated much of his time and expertise to racial healing.

Mr. Owens keeps a full international speaking schedule at conferences, seminars, universities, high schools, seminaries, and parishes. His media appearances include EWTN, Catholic Answers, Ave Maria, Relevant Radio, Immaculate Heart Radio, ABC World News Tonight, CBS News, and NPR. In 2018, Pope Francis honored him with the Benemerenti Papal Medal in recognition for his work in support of marriage and family.

He lives outside Philadelphia with his wife Melanie and their eight children.

Physician, psychologist, and best-selling author Dr. Leonard Sax returns to Plugged In with insights into the latest science around the pandemic, teen anxiety, and ways parents can navigate our current reality. This episode is packed with Dr. Sax's customary brilliance, wit, and sound advice as he offers analysis on everything from knives in German kindergartens to the right number of minutes our kids should spend on social media.

Drawing on the latest research and from his fourth book, The Collapse of Parenting, Dr. Sax provides timely wisdom on best practices for parents that serve as a guidepost for the current circumstances of the pandemic as well for forming healthy and virtuous habits in our adolescents that will last them a lifetime

ABOUT THE GUEST Dr. Leonard Sax provided care for children and adults in a family practice outside Washington, D.C, for more than 18 years. He has spent two decades visiting over 400 schools to research the causes of American adolescent's decline in academic performance and social-emotional well-being. For the past 17 years, Dr. Sax has led workshops, authored books, and given keynotes to address the conclusions of his research. He has been a guest on countless national and international media sources, including the TODAY Show (five times), CNN (three times), Headline News, PBS, Fox News (four times), NPR's Weekend Edition, and the BBC. His books include Why Gender Matters, Boys Adrift, Girls on the Edge, and The Collapse of Parenting, a New York Times bestseller.