Student Spotlight: Keira

According to Keira Locricchio, one of Chesterton Academy’s incoming juniors, Fahrenheit 451 is a great book because the main character, caught in “a utopian society where everything is supposed to be perfect,” realizes its faults, and knows that he does not want to “live a meaningless life where [he] can’t learn and have actual connections with people.” 

Like the main character of Fahrenheit 451, Keira values the way in which education, particularly a classical education, can lead to a life full of meaning. According to Keira, high schoolers like her should consider classical education because “it teaches you different ways of thinking and makes you more confident in what you have learned.” Keira’s father, Mark Locricchio, agrees with her about the benefits of a classical education: “Both of our kids have benefitted from a classical education. They seem to have the ability to critically think and see the errors in types of thinking.” 

The Locricchios are well-equipped to judge the benefits of classical education. Keira is currently a student at the Founders Classical Academy in Leander, Texas. When the Locricchios prepared to move back to the Detroit area, they were excited to hear from a friend of Keira’s mother, Heather, about the opening of a nearby Chesterton Academy. When Heather researched Chesterton Academy, she discovered what Mark described as the “missing piece” in Keira’s education: religion. According to Mark: “We want more than just a good education. We believe that good character and virtue with a Catholic education is important for a good life.” It is this foundation in faith that most excites Mark about Chesterton Academy. 

Indeed, the Locricchios, who will be attending Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Detroit, believe that “God has put this school in our lives to give us the classical education with a Catholic focus” that they desire. From their prior experience with classical education, the Locricchios know how academically fruitful such an education is. They appreciated how Keira’s writing improved and that she “read great classical literature that is no longer taught in most public schools.” Now that they have found a classical education founded on the Catholic faith, they hope that Keira will also gain “virtue and increased faith” from her education. 

We are excited to welcome a family so steeped in classical education and committed to their faith to Chesterton Academy!