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We will explore U.S. and world history from the Renaissance through the Civil War. But more than just studying names, places, and dates, students will engage deeply with classic stories, explore historical events in memorable and relatable ways, and learn principles of good government and good citizenship. Drawing from the Fourth Turning model of history, this course invites students to prepare for their personal life missions in America’s next great story. Building on last year’s work in storytelling and story crafting, students will continue to hone reading, writing, communication, learning, and leadership skills as we strive to better understand what the next chapter of American history could (and should) be. Plan on about 6 hours of homework a week. Thursday afternoons have been kept clear to allow for more time to study.
This course satisfies the following Ascend graduation requirements:
Transformational Outcomes:
Learn how to collaborate with a mentor to design and carry out a personalized education plan to explore potential life mission and career paths
Acquire advanced learning techniques that make learning even more effective and rewarding
Learn where to go and how to find meaningful answers to life’s personal challenges
Develop a genuine love for history and a deep appreciation for the U.S. Constitution, its Framers, and the ideals they fought to establish
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APPLIED MATH 1
“I hate math.”
“When am I ever going to use this?”
“I’m terrible at math. My brain just doesn’t work that way.”
Do any of these sound familiar? For many students, math has become a source of frustration—something to endure rather than enjoy. Somewhere along the way, we may have decided we just weren’t “math people,” and from then on, math felt like a series of hurdles to get past and forget. This course is designed to help you change that story. Or, if you are one of those fortunate few that really likes math, this course will help you take your math studies to a whole new level.
We’ll explore how math connects to real-world challenges, and more importantly, how it will affect your ability to fulfill your personal life mission. We’ll learn how the ability to think mathematically will not only set you apart in your future career paths, but will also help you avoid critical mistakes along the way.
Working with the mentor, you will learn the skill of progressing in math independently at your own pace, without feeling like you’re about to or are falling behind, or you’re waiting for the rest of the class before you can move on to the next topic. Learn how to become an independent learner in math…a skill that will also translate to other subjects.
I hope you’re as excited as I am to see math in a whole new way. You might just be surprised to find out you have a “mind for numbers” after all.
APPLIED MATH 2
You’ve started the journey to renegotiate your relationship with math. You at least opened the door a crack that math could be a different experience for you than what it has been. Maybe it didn’t quite go as expected and you fell back into old math habits of thinking. Ironically, that’s a perfect place to be to now open the door a little wider.
Let’s take what you learned in Applied Math I to the next level. ALEKS is one of a variety of tools that an independent math learner can learn to wield to get the most out of math studies. Work with the mentor to individualize and personalize your math studies to an even greater degree—identify your specific math goals, build a personalized plan for reaching them, add more math learning tools (maybe ALEKS if it fits or explore a wide variety of other resources) to your world-class learning toolbox, and become more than prepared for whatever college-level math courses are in your future.
You’ve had a taste for what an independent learner can do in math. Let’s build on what worked and learn from what didn’t to help you build the capacity and find the resources to take your math learning to a new level. After all, the real goal is to learn to think mathematically, a skill that will both set you apart in your future career paths and help you avoid costly mistakes from poor thinking and logic.
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There is a list of traits that entrepreneurs tend to share that will be invaluable in the coming post-crisis economy. Unfortunately, these traits are not only not taught in schools, but are socialized out by the time many students reach junior high and high school. These traits include initiative, creativity, innovation, ingenuity, and tenacity, among others. So, if not in schools, where is the best opportunity to develop these traits? A mentored experience doing entrepreneurial things and studying entrepreneurial classics. Note that these entrepreneurial traits are not limited to actual entrepreneurs who start or buy their own business. These same traits will be highly valued in intrapreneurs, as well. These are employees who apply entrepreneurial thinking within while working in a company or organization. Whether you see your future as an entrepreneur or intrapreneur, this course is designed to start you on that path. Do you want to start a small business offering a service or product? Or do you want to explore apprenticeships in fields of interest? Either way, this is the class for you.
Work with a mentor to plan for and start a small business. Do you need to raise some money to buy equipment or launch a product? Like the TV show Shark Tank, you’ll have the option to prepare for and present a pitch to Ascend’s own panel of advisors and investors. Or maybe you’re interested in a certain career field and would like to learn more about it? Work with a mentor to tap into Ascend’s network to find an apprenticeship or interview professionals.
Recommended time commitment: 4-8 hours per week
Class scheduled once a week on Monday after school from 2:45pm to 3:15pm.
It is intended that after the first 4-6 weeks, students will be focused primarily on completing action steps toward their business or apprenticeship goals, and the mentor may reduce the frequency of classes accordingly.
There may be occasional evening classes for meeting with mentors and pitching to investors and advisors. These will be advertised as early as possible to give students the chance to arrange their schedules accordingly.
A mentor will post available “office hours” for students to sign up and meet via Zoom as needed throughout the semester.
There is no set required number of hours outside of class to dedicate to completing assignments. The more time you want to put into your small business or your apprenticeship, the more benefit you will see from it. There will also be occasional reading assignments to learn entrepreneurial principles that you can start applying. It is recommended that you block out a minimum of 4-8 hours a week.
James Malmstrom
James’ love for learning started while sitting on his mom’s lap as she taught him the alphabet before he even started kindergarten. Growing up, he could often be found lost in a story, flipping through the encyclopedia, sorting his baseball card collection, and playing ball or exploring on his bike. While school came relatively easily and he had all the markings of a great education—straight A’s, high test scores, a 4-year scholarship, two engineering degrees—he oddly didn’t feel educated; he had simply learned to play the game. It suddenly all made sense while reading “A Thomas Jefferson Education” by Oliver DeMille. He realized that he had been highly trained, but poorly educated. And ever since he has been on a mission to change that: attending seminars, reading classics, and seeking out mentors.
James is an entrepreneur, business owner, life coach, mentor, and perpetual student. He and his wife, Stephanie, have three children. After looking for, but not finding, a place where their oldest teenage child could continue pursuing her education, they joined three other families to create it. And that is when Ascend: A Mentored Education was born. A little over a decade later, James finds himself in the most amazing place in the world…the classroom. His greatest hope is that his passion for learning will be contagious; that his students will come to know and feel that they each have a personal life mission and that they will be inspired to do the hard work to get the education to match that mission.