Teen Offerings
Beginning Fall 2024, we are offering a variety of teen classes for young people ages 13-17. Whether teens are unschooled, homeschooled, or attend traditional schools, our intention is to support and affirm them as they reflect on who they are and vision where they want to go. Once teens have developed their roadmap in the foundations course, they can choose from a variety of subsequent courses that'll provide specific scaffolds and supports to meet their needs and help them make their dreams tangible and actionable right now. These courses are creating a playground through which we will explore the various possibilities of what our future teen unschooling program will be like.
Foundation Course: Write Me Like I am
This 8-week foundational course creates a space for teens (ages 13-17) to hone their creative voice while exploring who they are, honor where they’ve been, and craft dreamy visions of what is yet to come. Teens will engage poetry, spoken word, vignettes, and more to practice discussion and reflection, and to learn writing + visual expression skills like sharing a focused and compelling message, using sensory details to create deeper meaning, editing, revision, providing supportive peer feedback, and final drafting. Teens will draft at least three unique writing pieces including an identity map, story poem(s), and a personal mission + vision statement. These core writing pieces will be used as a launchpad into passion work in subsequent course offerings, which will support them in moving towards deeper learning and taking aligned action.
​
Please note: In order to register for additional classes described below, teens will need to take this foundational course first because they'll be creating the roadmap for future learning and action.
​
Course will be run in the Fall 2024 on Tuesdays and/or Saturdays. Please complete the registration form to share your ideal schedule. Course will run again Winter 2024/Spring 2025 depending on teen interest and availability.
​
Sliding Tution Scale: $150-300 (if cost is a barrier, please email us for up to $100 off)
Additional Classes AvAilable:
Passion-Driven Research: Energizing what makes my heart sing
Our hearts want to be doing meaningful work connected to our core values, passions, and sense of purpose. During this course, teens dig into their mission + vision statements that they wrote in Write Me Like I Am, and identify a topic area they want to dive into more deeply. They’ll brainstorm everything they need to learn about, the research they can do, the books/resources they can read, the classes they can take to learn more about something potent in their vision. They’ll essentially create their own intentional learning/research plan and move through it with structure and tools provided by the facilitator and support from the community. By the end of the course, they’ll practice sharing out what they’ve learned to inform and educate or persuade towards care and action.
Winter 2024/Spring 2025 Schedule TBD based on teen interest and availability
Collaborative project design: movement towards embodied + connected action
Moving towards embodied action means young people show up and be their mission statement in a way that makes sense for them in this moment, in their true context, with the resources they have access to right now. Through sharing their interests, passions, reflections, and learnings, they’ll collaborate with other young people to design an action plan that leverages the skills, talents, interests, resources, and access points that the collective group can offer. Together, they’ll step into the action together and make something happen. Together, they’ll reflect on their experience, what went well and what could shift if they tried again, and share it out with broader audiences.
Winter 2024/Spring 2025 Schedule TBD based on teen interest and availability
Teen zine: Aplifying the wisdom of teen voices in Philadelphia
Teens have brilliant ideas that deserve to be centered and shared with broader audiences. Teens interested in contributing to and collaborating towards the publication of a teen self-published magazine ("zine" for short) are welcome to join. We’ll read lots of zines, learn through their various structures and styles, spark ideas through smaller writing + creation projects, and then collaboratively outline an issue of a zine we want to co-create. The possibilities for what teens create to contribute to the zine are limitless, and every stage of the development of the zine will be co-created within the group. After collectively deciding on a theme for the issue, young people will determine their own contributions and will support the visuals and layout of the finished product. Young people can decide to create a collaged paper zine that we also publish digitally, or they’ll co-create a digital zine that we can also print.
Winter 2024/Spring 2025 Schedule TBD based on teen interest and availability
About the teen offerings designer + facilitator
Hannah (they/them) is a former middle and high school English + Humanities teacher, turned unschooling facilitator. They currently facilitate with The Dandelion Project and with Philly Thrive's Youth Peace Circles. Throughout their teaching career, Hannah centered personal storytelling + creative expression, and sought ways to amplify student voices into public spaces as a way to empower young people to share their truth and as a way combat the harmful stereotypes about teens that exist in our society. Through their experience of co-creating teen publications, story and art exhibitions, and days of listening, Hannah believes in the wisdom of teens and their ability to shape change and expand perspectives through self-expression, creation, and collaboration. Hannah loves writing, making zines, and creating art and is thrilled to share their passions with teens!