LiberatED Podcast

Amber Okolo-Ebube is a mom of 5 and longtime homeschooling parent in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas who runs Leading Little Arrows, a weekly homeschooling enrichment program focused on nature, art, and STEM subjects. She launched last spring and her program has become so popular that she recently leased a building across the street from the University of Texas at Arlington campus. With 33 students ages 3-17, and several adult facilitators, she is already near capacity, and will be expanding to run a microschool this fall. Approximately three-quarters of Okolo-Ebube’s students are neurodiverse, with several, including one of her own children, on the autism spectrum. Leading Little Arrows provides the individualized learning environment and freedom of movement that enable both neurodiverse and neurotypical children to thrive.  Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Kenneth Danford is one of the true pioneers in alternative education. In 1996, Ken launched North Star, a self-directed learning center for teen homeschoolers in western Massachusetts which was one of the first such spaces to exist. Prior to launching North Star, Ken was a middle school social studies teacher in public schools and wanted to create a new, non-coercive learning option for young people. Fast forward to 2013, Ken and his colleague Joel Hammon created Liberated Learners, a global network of self-directed learning centers modeled after North Star that continues to help aspiring education entrepreneurs launch self-directed learning centers in their own communities. In 2019, Ken published the book Learning is Natural, School is Optional.: The North Star approach to offering teens a head start on life, which I highly recommend.  Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.  

Alycia Wright taught middle school in the Virginia public schools for over a decade before becoming a homeschooling mom to her four children. She is the founder of Cultural Roots Homeschool Cooperative, a non-profit with the mission of creating a liberated educational space for children of color in Richmond, Virginia that currently serves over 125 learners. I recently had the chance to meet Alycia in person when I was visiting the Richmond area and am so glad to share her story here. Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Barefoot University is truly one of the most exciting organizations you’ll hear about this year. It is a rapidly expanding network of outdoor education programs that brings families together for weekly nature meetups and theme-based learning activities. Barefoot University was founded in 2019 by our guests today, Madeleine Braden and Amber Brown, who were looking for more ways to connect their kids with nature and bring other like-minded families along. It started with just a handful of families in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas, and has now grown to serve more than 3,000 students nationwide.  Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Chrystal and Joshua Bernard are pastors of their local church as well as the cofounders of Braveheart Christian Academy, a microschool in Arlington, Texas and part of the vibrant cluster of microschools and innovative learning models in the greater Dallas/Fort Worth area.  Chrystal is a former high school mathematics teacher in the Texas public schools. She left to run her own CPA firm, which she still manages on the side while overseeing Braveheart Academy that she and Joshua launched in the fall 2021.  Education Entrepreneurs in Texas Are Expanding Options for Families (Forbes.com) Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

There is a vibrant and growing hub of education entrepreneurship and alternative learning models in New York City, and our guests today are a part of that. Jacob Greebel and Melissa Sornik, both licensed social workers and experienced therapists, founded Acton Academy Seacliff in 2020 in Seacliff, New York on Long Island, but decided to move their Acton Academy into the heart of Manhattan. In their private practice, they see mounting school-related youth anxiety and believe that alternative education models, and the Acton model in particular, can be a beneficial antidote.  Jacob and Melissa are planning to open the doors on Synergy: An Acton Academy in New York City this fall.  Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Dr. Natalie Summerville taught for over 20 years in the Virginia public schools before first launching The Grand Magnolia School, a microschool in Richmond, Virginia that her grandchildren and others attend.  Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Today's guest is Yesi Sol, a former New York City public school teacher and founder of The Joyful Learning Academy. Joyful Learning is a learning center for homeschoolers in the DUMBO (down underneath the Manhattan Bridge overpass) area of Brooklyn, New York that also provides after-school enrichment and tutoring services to local learners. I had the chance recently to meet Yesi and visit her beautiful learning center and am excited for her to share more about her journey toward alternative education and education entrepreneurship. Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Jerry Mintz has been a leading voice in the alternative school movement for over 30 years. In addition to his 17 years as a public and independent alternative school principal and teacher, he has also helped to found more than one hundred public and private alternative schools and organizations. In 1989, he launched the Alternative Education Resource Organization (AERO) and since then has served as its director. He is the author of the 2017 book, School’s Over: How to Have Freedom and Democracy in Education .  Register here for the 2023 AERO Conference! Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Wade Moore runs Urban Preparatory Academy in Wichita, Kansas, a private K-8 school where most of the students attend tuition-free through the state’s low-income tax-credit scholarship program. Pastor Moore has been a longtime advocate for expanding education choice programs to enable more children to have access to the best educational fit for them. "It's life and death to students," he says. Urban Prep was a 2022 finalist for the prestigious Yass Prize, winning a $500,000 grant to expand Urban Prep to a second location in the Wichita area and serve more students.  Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.