Father Mike Schmitz, Harrison Butker discuss Catholic home schooling at Nashville gala

 

Nashville, Tenn., May 29, 2025 / 14:12 pm (CNA).

Catholic home schooling families from across the country joined popular Catholic speakers in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 23 for an evening of camaraderie supporting Regina Caeli Academy, an accredited pre-K–12 classical home school hybrid academy founded in 2003.

The Courage Under Fire Gala featured popular priest and podcaster Father Mike Schmitz, Kansas City Chiefs placekicker Harrison Butker, political commentators and media hosts Matt Walsh and Michael Knowles, actor Kirk Cameron, and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee.

Regina Caeli Academy now has 28 centers in 17 states and offers home-schooled students the ability to attend in-person classes two days a week. The academy prides itself on its classical curriculum.

Butker joined the academy’s board of directors two years ago and said that before joining he was unaware of the program but now calls it “a beautiful model.”

“I didn’t know there was a hybrid model that home-schoolers could be a part of and they can have a community and be able to grow in the Catholic faith,” he told CNA in an interview on the red carpet at the gala.

“It’s just a beautiful model and I really do believe that if more children are made aware of Regina Caeli and more parents are empowered to be the primary educators so much so that they become the actual main educators and do that through home schooling — I think we will see a big change in our society for the better,” he added.

Catholic couple Deena and Tony Heller have four children who attend the Regina Caeli Academy and will be entering their third year in the program this fall. The Hellers told CNA that they value the ability for their children to still have the “school experience” by attending class twice a week; however, they remain their primary educators at home.

“The community, the support, the people … it really makes it such a special experience for our kids,” Tony Heller said. “It’s just so unique and so different compared to just traditional home schooling or traditional primary education.”

The couple added that the traditional Catholic values of the program greatly impacted their decision to enroll their children in the program as well as the realization that they are “a major driver in [their children’s] education,” he said.

At the gala, Butker addressed the attendees on the topic of parents as the primary educators for their children. He encouraged parents to “make sure that they are taking ownership of laying that foundation for their child.”

“I think education starts in the home — whether you send them to a parochial school or traditional school, a public school or home school — regardless the schooling of the child begins in the home,” he said, adding: “I think we can shape society by shaping our children, one child at a time, one family at a time.”

Schmitz, who was also a featured speaker at the event, also offered parents advice to consider when thinking about their children’s education. The popular Catholic priest and podcaster gave the example of his own college experience. He shared that while it was a good school with good people, and it was Catholic, he thought that he could take in whatever they were teaching “in an unguarded way,” he told CNA.

“I didn’t realize that no, you have to be on your guard in some ways in some places,” he explained. “I think public schools are very similar. I think sometimes Catholic schools can be very similar as well where you can’t necessarily just assume the goodwill — not that people [have] evil intent — but also the fact that we don’t all have the same perspective or all the same way of looking at the world.”

He added: “I think that when parents are aware that we have well-intentioned people in a lot of different environments who aren’t necessarily advocates of truth as we understand it, objective truth, then a lot of bad ideas can get in and infect our minds and hearts. And so even to be aware of that goes a long way.”

In 2024, a report from the Johns Hopkins School of Education Homeschool Research Lab found an increasing number of students being home-schooled in the United States. Butker and Schmitz offered their perspectives as to why they believe society is seeing this trend.

“I think really from COVID, I think people started to ask questions about all of the things that they are told,” Butker said. “And I think people are questioning like, ‘Yes, I’m told this. I’m told to do that. But do I feel comfortable doing that? Does that pass the gut test?’”

“I think a lot of people have looked at home schooling in the past and thought, ‘Wow, that’s weird. That’s different. I would never do that,’” he added. “But when you start thinking about parents as the primary educators and being able to really pour into your children and lay that foundation for them, it really becomes this attractive model that I think more people are looking into and they’re taking ownership of laying that foundation for their children.”

“I think it’s a beautiful thing and if we can get more parents that are taking pride in forming their children, educating them, I think we’re going to have a better society, we’re going to have better children, and ideally more virtuous and stronger soldiers for Christ.”

Schmitz pointed out that what was once a “nice alternative” has become “almost a necessity.”

“If I’m actually going to keep my child in a place rooted in truth and rooted in Christ then in some ways — and I don’t want to be overdramatic about this — but in some ways, I can be kind of feeding them to the wolves if I send them out in a way that’s unguarded,” Schmitz said.

“Now, again, there’s plenty of well-intentioned and good people in public education as well, but at the same time I can’t count on everyone being in that place. So I think parents are more aware than ever that this alternative option is going to be more than just an option but maybe even essential.”

Through the fundraising done at the Courage Under Fire Gala, Regina Caeli Academy is able to expand its mission and bring its curriculum to more students across the country. Its centers can currently be found in Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Tennessee, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon, and Pennsylvania.