As a homeschool graduate, the Cole Summers Fellowship means a lot of things to me. Most importantly, seeing a program that prioritizes homeschoolers, microschoolers, and other unconventionally-educated learners while empowering young minds to be future leaders is a powerful statement to the world.
When I was growing up as a homeschooler in the early-to-mid-2000s, online learning was just becoming somewhat popular, and programs designed to support homeschoolers explicitly were few and far between. Like many homeschoolers growing up at the time, access to resources often varied depending on where we were in relation to other homeschoolers in the area and our income. Everything I had growing up was a result of my parents’ researching how and where to find what I needed, and if it didn’t exist, they created it from scratch. It was a laborious process that, while impactful, could have been so much easier if we had access to half of the tools that exist nowadays.
Since 2020, homeschooling has become so popular that almost everywhere I look, I can spot new podcasts, curricula, courses, or learning materials designed specifically for homeschoolers. Homeschooling is now being researched, written about, and showcased in a variety of ways (including by me) that I would have never thought possible just a decade ago. The wonderful thing is that with the additional content and industry-wide interest in unconventional education, homeschooling as a practice is more accessible and visible now than ever before. Yet, I wasn’t seeing a lot of programming made for homeschooled teens, and the focus has still largely focused on resources for parents or younger students.
That’s why I was so excited to hear about the launch of a program called the Cole Summers Fellowship (CSF) earlier this year. This program was created by the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) to support teens in unconventional education, including homeschoolers. I’ve followed the program’s launch and progress ever since, and enjoyed tracking the journey of the fellows who’ve engaged with the program. According to a fellowship alum, Savannah: “The Cole Summers Fellowship impacted how I see the world. My voice is important, and knowing how to share my thoughts and build with others is how we can promote unconventional learning.”
Now, we are welcoming our second cohort of Cole Summers Fellows, with applications open until November 22, 2024. If you or someone you know is a teen between the ages of 14 and 18 who learns outside of a conventional classroom, please apply here!
What’s even more exciting is that I will be facilitating this upcoming cohort as a part of my work as an education associate in the newly launched Education Entrepreneurship Lab at FEE. I’ll not only get to engage with the program, but also streamline and expand it, building on the momentum of the last cohort with new themes and an emphasis on grassroots advocacy inspired by classical liberalism.
Since starting my journey as a young policy professional and educator, my mission has been to inspire more youth leaders in education and entrepreneurship. Expanding the reach of the Cole Summers Fellowship will be an exciting way to continue doing just that. I believe that when we build programs that spotlight homeschoolers and other unconventionally-educated youth, we are showing young people how they can embrace unique educational pathways to success.
Looking to the future, I am hoping the Cole Summers Fellowship serves as a catalyst for more programs designed to empower homeschooled and unconventionally-educated young people on a larger scale.
