Peter Welle

I'm proud to share that I was named as one of three honorees from the state of Minnesota for the 2023 Outstanding Educator Award from the Synergy & Leadership Exchange. I was humbled and honored by this lovely surprise. Life is funny, guys. Enjoy the good bits when they arrive.

Here's a promo video for my new music if you want to sample the wares. Four songs about the big, immovable parts of life we'll all have to walk through. youtu.be/7NaHnpSfXls

I put some new music out today! This EP began with a song I wrote for my grandfather after he passed away, and from there we hit a vein of songs that were of a piece - bittersweet, hurt but hopeful, told with warm melodies and harmony. Give it a listen! open.spotify.com/album/15oxNO7w…

I had the pleasure of leading a day of Teaching for Transformation PD at Coastal Christian HS in Wilmington, NC. Great crew here who showed up ready to lean into the big stuff. Afterwards, the Minnesotan in me appreciated being seated at the correct table for dinner. #grits

@AdamOmelianchuk Yeah, I was Field Marshall Stalin walking down the cereal aisle, surveying the troops in all their proud, doomed beauty.

@PeterWelle One of your best old blog posts was about cereal. It had a military theme, if I remember correctly. Cookie Crunch got wasted and Special K got dresses down, or something like that 🤔

I just overheard my wife upstairs say to my kids, "Your father could do a TED Talk on cereal." I feel seen and loved.

My kid came home from school with a recorder and sheet music for Hot Cross Buns.

When that day arrives that I am laid to rest, I would like to be interred with a red pen and a stack of DBQ essays I never got around to grading.

But did it have good wifi?

It wasn't originally the plan, but by the time they graduate, my kids will have gotten to experience homeschool, public charter school, and Christian school. I'm grateful for all of these and the ways my kids will have been shaped by them.

"Human rights are just a fictional story...they are not a biological reality." While I actually give him credit for articulating an internally consistent implication of reductive materialism, it is clear that the speaker has not stopped to consider that his claim to an objective "biological reality" is a story too. Every view we have of the world is a view from somewhere. We inherit from that place a storied lens by which we see through. What would be more appropriate to say (and self-aware) is that the materialist story of our secular age has no foundation to make coherent claims for the existence of human rights. There are other stories that do. If we want to keep human rights, we should find a better story.

Every middle school currently has $2,500 worth of Stanleys and other tumblers in lost and found.

@jbfeig @RBrookhiser Appreciate this. Thanks!

@PeterWelle @RBrookhiser The Compromise of 1850 did not apply to any land from the Louisiana purchase which was mostly closed to slavery by the Missouri compromise. After 1850 the status of all territory was thought to be settled by “moderates”. Then Douglas decided to relitigate Kansas- Nebraska

Douglas also saved the Compromise of 1850. It tricked him into thinking he could pull off the Nebraska Bill, not seeing that the latter undid the premise of the former.

@ScotBertram @steadycraig @ND_EthicsCenter @pojanowski The Hold Steady would make for an incredible Political Beats episode.

A couple months ago, I attended this great talk by @steadycraig at @ND_EthicsCenter. Later, thanks to the generosity of @pojanowski, I was lucky enough to share dinner and great conversation with Craig and others. Yes, it was incredible. So is the talk. youtu.be/abtjXMhkUdM?si…

@swchssports @SWCHS_GBB She brings those same qualities to the classroom as well!

AOW:  Aubrey Burkhart averaged 18 points, 3.5 assists. 6.5 steals and 3 rebounds per game. She has consistently shown a remarkable ability to lead, and elevates the team with unwavering composure and an infectious sense of joy.

@RBrookhiser How did the Kansas-Nebraska Act undo the premise of the Compromise of 1850? Not challenging - just seems like the Compromise was a bit of a hodgepodge without a coherent premise.

@PeterWelle Losing threads here, what?

Good news, bad news at my daughter's 6th grade basketball tournament today. Good news: she just scored the first bucket for her team after a scrappy rebound! Bad news: they're now losing 50-2, with two more games awaiting them.

The more I look at Twitter, the more I want to read a book instead.

I'm grateful for my 2023. I took my lumps and had to say some goodbyes, but also learned a lot and found joy in my work and friends. Add to that a lot of great family moments, good health, and an adventure or two, and that made for a pretty good year. Thankful to God. On to 2024!

My favorite reads of 2023.