The Monastery just celebrated the graduation of its second class of five “student” monks from a three week long immersion into learning English. The class was directed by Dr. Bill Nagel, a graduate from the University of Arkansas and a certified ESL teacher. He commented most favorably on the zeal and enthusiasm with which the monks in his class approached their learning experience. There was a focus on reading, listening, speaking and writing the English language to prepare these men for future online college studies. Pictured above is the class at its “graduation,” along with Abbot Philip, Fr. Simeon, Director of Education, and Dr. Nagel. We remain grateful for the volunteer efforts by Dr. Nagel and continue to look for other certified ESL teachers who might like to come to the Monastery and stay for three or four weeks teach English to more of our monks from other countries. If you have an interest, please contact our director of education at his email address: monksimeon08@gmail.com.