LiberatED Podcast

Bob Luddy is a successful entrepreneur who founded CaptiveAire Systems, the nation’s leading manufacturer of commercial kitchen ventilation systems, and later became an education entrepreneur, founding Thales Academy in 2007. Thales Academy is a classically-focused network of low-cost, PreK-12 private schools that has seen extraordinary growth from starting as a microschool with 30 students in a temporary spot in the back of Luddy's corporate office to now serving over 6,100 students across 13 locations in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Thales was recently named a semi-finalist for the prestigious Yass Prize for education innovation.  Entrepreneurial Life: The Path from Startup to Market Leader, by Robert Luddy *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Rachel Goff taught in the New York City public schools for 16 years. She was growing increasingly disillusioned by what she was seeing unfold in the conventional classroom and finally decided to leave and launch Creative Space Learning Center in 2021, after choosing homeschooling for her own children. Creative Space is a learning center for PreK- 8th grade homeschooled children in Long Beach, New York, on the south shore of Long Island, that follows a child-led learning philosophy. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Felicia Rattray, Founder of Permission To Succeed Academy, discusses starting and scaling microschools with personalized, mastery-based, culturally relevant curriculum. Topics include her motivation for creating a microschool, creating supportive learning spaces, increasing enrollment through school choice policies, expanding education offerings, and reflections on the rewards of being an education entrepreneur.

Kenneth Mims is the founder of Science Prep Academy in Phoenix, a private STEM microschool for neurodivergent students in grades 6th-12th. Ken founded Science Prep in 2017 after working for several years with autistic students in Arizona. Last fall, Science Prep was awarded the $1 million “Ducey Prize” funded by Janine Yass, founder of The Yass Prize, to enable the school to open at least five more schools in the Phoenix area and increase capacity to 800 students in new schools throughout the country. Ken is also the founder of the Neurodiversity Education Research Center which helps to support neurodivergent students as they prepare to enter the workforce in STEM-related fields. Science Prep Academy is a program of this research center.  *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Holler Creek School of Appalachian Ecology is a small, private K-5 school located in Carroll County, Virginia, just below the Blue Ridge Parkway. Its two founders are Aaron Sebens and Melanie Schrage, both experienced educators who wanted to create a school that embraces what they call “radical rural education.” They launched Holler Creek in the fall of 2021. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Pastor Joshua Robertson is the Senior Pastor of The Rock Church of Harrisburg, PA and CEO and founder of Black Pastors United for Education. Through his role, he has spearheaded a variety of community initiatives aimed at education and youth empowerment, including establishing church-based learning centers for local young people who are enrolled in one of Pennsylvania’s virtual charter schools.  *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Josh Pickel grew up in Canton, Illinois and returned home to teach at the public schools he had once attended. As time went on, he felt increasingly unsettled about the coercive classroom dynamics characteristic of conventional schooling.  Josh began researching alternative education models and came across Liberated Learners, a network of self-directed learning centers for teenagers modeled after North Star, a learning center in western Massachusetts that was started in 1996 by Ken Danford, who was also a disillusioned public school teacher.  Last summer, Josh quit his teaching job to open Canton Learning Collaborative, a self-directed microschool for homeschoolers. It grew from 5 learners last fall to 15 young people over the course of its first year. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Today’s episode covers three interesting and intersecting topics: unschooling, careers in the trades, and barriers to youth apprenticeships and employment. My guests are Wendy Zanders and her 16-year-old son, Keyshon, a certified welder with dreams of someday running his own business. Related article: Loosening Youth Employment Regulations Empowers Teens *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.  

Jenna Wertheimer leads Grace Preparatory Academy, a University Model® hybrid homeschool just outside of Boston. Students in kindergarten through 8th grade attend drop-off classes with hired teachers two days a week, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and then continue to work on their curriculum at home with their parents or in self-organized cooperatives.  Grace Prep was launched in 2012 by two homeschooling moms who wanted more consistent structure and social interactions for their homeschooled children within a faith-based learning environment. Their initial class had seven students. Today, Grace Prep serves more than 70 K-8 students with 11 staff members. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.  

Elements Academy is a private preK-12 microschool and family wellness community located in Braintree, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston. Its founder is Heather DiNino, a former teacher and special education department chair in the Massachusetts public schools for more than a decade who realized that learning could and should be different. At Elements Academy, she has built a stunning alternative to conventional schooling where young people thrive. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.