The Mentors
Lead Mentor: Angela
I'm Angela, and I'm a mother of 5, and have been an avid homeschooler for 13+ years which began after my own mother suddenly passed away and awakened within me the importance of my own role and influence as a mother. The choice to homeschool has become the biggest blessing of my life.
As a youth, I chased after good grades without capturing or retaining any of the joy of learning, now I am going through the phases of learning for the first time in my life and loving the experience as it's actually changing who I am for the better.
I have enjoyed soooo many hobbies through the years in almost any category. Currently though I am enjoying learning a lot about gardening, beekeeping, health, organizing & systems for the home, studying the whole Old Testament for the first time, and of course lots and lots of reading of the amazing classics that I used to avoid or not even know about in my youth!
Teaching these classes for the past 3 years has been transformative to who I've become. God has been teaching and guiding me this whole time, and I keep getting excited to discover the new layers He inspires me to add each year to these classes (like the youth teaching this year!). God is good all of the time and loves mentoring each of us. I love getting to see Him work in the hearts and minds of these amazing children and youth that we guide here!
Scholar Mentor: Lauralee
Hello! My name is Lauralee Lemon. I've helped Angela teach classes for the last year and have enjoyed learning so much from her and our amazing students. I've been homeschooling for 12 years and have 5 children ages 19-8.
Homeschooling is something I'm passionate about as I recognize the powerful impact we can have on our children when we are purposeful in preparing them for their futures. Other interests I have include oil painting, watercoloring, and a multitude of arts and crafts, geology, geography, gardening, and reading. But most of all I simply love learning!
The Classics
"The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest minds of past centuries."
We will be adding the greatest authors of history as our mentors through our journey to becoming leaders.
Yes the authors of the books we read will be powerful mentors in your journey this year! You will learn wisdom on the pages of each story you embark on reading. You may not have direct access to speak and talk to them like your parents, teachers, friends, or other important people in your life who can be valuable sources of conversation. However, we do not want to overlook these author mentors who have already passed through this life and left treasures of wisdom and experience.
Each semester there will be a different theme of focus. Even if you have read any of the books that will be given that semester, there will be new wisdom which can be discovered on a second, third, or even fourth reading. The book may have not changed, but your life has.
You will be the attentive student who gets to discover something much deeper than just the story they tell, and as a class we will learn how to do this. You will learn to listen to the unique messages for you, and inspiration from God will come and guide you as you act on those promptings.
"In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through to you." - Mortimer Adler
Are you ready to meet many wonderful authors who will be your mentors? It's going to be an exciting journey!
As a very involved parent, I know how important it is to trust the types of books that are chosen for my children to read. There is a very large variety of types of books out there. We strive to teach the youth about the different types and purposes of books and which ones to limit or stay away from. We talk about the difference between "whole books" (good=good, bad=bad, and good wins) and "broken books" (good=good, bad=bad, and bad seems to win) in the Thomas Jefferson Education definition of these types of books. We spend the majority of our reading in the "whole books" category, but there are times we will specifically read "broken books" as these make for valuable and possibly life changing discussions as a group as we navigate through the principles we need to grow as leaders. I've seen some incredible growth from the youth as we read these books. I strive to choose books that are as wholesome as possible (limited swearing or authors promoting disrespectful behavior). Some books may still have limited swearing and themes that your specific child isn't ready to tackle. I strive to be as transparent as possible with all the books we read. Because I specifically cater each semester to the current students and the inspiration I receive, the book list comes out shortly before each semester.
To get an idea of the books we have read so far (and will possibly have on book lists in the future), here is a list of the books:
*Do Hard Things - Alex & Brett Harris (Leadership Classic)
Summer of the Monkeys - Wilson Rawls
Understood Betsy - Dorothy Canfield
*George Muller: The Guardian of Bristol's Orphans by Christian Heroes: Then and Now
*A Little Princess - Frances Hodgson Burnett
A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
Thomas Jefferson Education For Teens - DeMille (leadership Classic)
Turn the Page: Read Right to Lead Right - Chris Brady (leadership classic)
The Genius of Willie MacMichael - George Macdonald
*Kisses From Katie - Katie Davis
A Single Shard - Linda Sue Park
The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch – Jean Lee Latham
*Achieving Your Life Mission – Randall Wright (Leadership Classic)
Banner in the Sky by James Ramsey Ullman
*The Noticer by Andy Andrews
*I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai (Young Readers Edition or original for more advanced readers)
Princess and the Goblin by George Macdonald
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Standing For Something by Gordon B. Hinckley
Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter
Animal Farm by George Orwell
*The Alliance by Gerald Lund
The Red Scarf Girl by Ji-li Jiang
*The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
The Basket of Flowers by Christoph Von Schmid
*The Liberty of Our Language Revealed by Thomas Blackwell
Advanced Scholars have read some of these:
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (ages 16+)
*Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
*The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas
Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington
Within Reach: My Everest Story by Mark Pfetzer
*Class majority favorites
(most of these were chosen as individual favorites of at least one student)
This upcoming 2026-2027 semester we will be reading some amazing classsics themed around the American Revolution in honor of the 250 years of this country!