In the fall of 2004, Jeanne McNew and Steven R. Perkins received a grant from the Washington Township Foundation to design an annual guest lecture series at North Central High School. McNew and Perkins, both teachers of Theory of Knowledge, a required class in the International Baccalaureate program, host one scholar each year to deliver a lecture in the applied epistemology of mathematics, art, natural science, human science, ethics, or history. 

The series is called The Episteme Lectures, and each lecture has a primary audience of students in the Theory of Knowledge and Critical Thinking classes at North Central. Other audience members include faculty and staff from North Central, professors and students from area universities, and members of the community at large.

Past speakers have been:

2005:       Dr. Douglas R. Hofstadter, "Is Modern Poetry Complete Rubbish?"

2006:       Dr. Paul K. Moser, "Doubts About Skepticism"

2007:       Dr. Charles Watson, "Risks of Faith: Crossing the Dangerous Chasm Between Conviction and Consequence"

2008:       Dr. Ora Pescovitz, "Altruism: Is It All True?"