Ralston

College

K–12

Partnership

Program

Magdalena Kyne graduated from Franciscan University with a B.A. in Philosophy, a Great Books honors concentration, and minors in Business and Music. While there, she served as a Leadership Institute Student Fellow, participated in student government, and assisted the Schola director. She has mentored and taught introductory Great Books courses for first-year students and has taken part in several national fellowships, including ISI’s Honors Program, the Heritage Foundation Academy, the John Paul II Institute Summer Fellowship, and the Röpke-Wojtyła Fellowship. Her academic interests include philosophical and theological anthropology, personalism, and literature, and she is currently working on a book applying philosophical anthropology to contemporary issues. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. and hopes to teach, inviting future students into the adventure of intellectual life.

Topics:
• What are the liberal arts and why they matter
• How to read a text well
• What is a Socratic discussion

Thomas Kolokithias graduated from CUNY Hunter College with a double major in Classical Studies and Political Science and a minor in History. He taught 10th-grade AP World History at a charter school in Newark before serving for two years in the Peace Corps as a Youth & Development Specialist in northern Morocco, where he taught English, French, history, and life skills—all in Moroccan Arabic. During his service, he led a CLIMB leadership project, guiding a group of youth on an expedition up Mt. Toubkal. After completing the Ralston MA, he hopes either to found the South Bronx’s first classical charter high school or to join the Foreign Service.

Topics:
• The fall of the Roman Republic—why do republics fail?
• The rise of ancient Athens—can direct democracy work?
• How classical works such as Plato’s Republic or Seneca’s Letters can shape life today

Sofia Truax graduated from LSU with a B.A. in English Rhetoric and Spanish and has since worked across fields including culinary arts, publishing, agriculture, and education. Most of her career has been spent as a Socratic Guide and Program Director at an Acton Academy in Austin, Texas. With interests in language, pedagogy, psychology, and culture, she is now pursuing an M.A. in the Humanities at Ralston College. After graduating in 2026, she plans to launch a high-school program at an Acton Academy, apprentice under professors at the University of Austin, and tutor students in Ancient Greek and Latin.

Topics:
• Greek games
• Patterns and geometry
• Mythology and the Greek gods

Maya Toman studied Latin at Hillsdale College, graduating summa cum laude with honors in Classics. As a member of the Collegiate Scholars Program, she wrote and defended an honors thesis on the influence of St Augustine on C. S. Lewis. During her time at Hillsdale, she tutored students in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, edited for a student-run magazine, led the classics honorary, and participated in several clubs and choirs. Now at Ralston College, she is continuing research on the Christian reception of Platonism from the Renaissance to the present. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Classics or theology and hopes to work in education, sharing her love of ancient languages, literature, and philosophy with young people.

Topics:
• How the Classics deepen our reading of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien
• A 15-minute “sonnet appreciation” session (reading, analysis, and recitation)
• Approaches to beginning Latin pedagogy