Mentoring relationships are at the heart of Embark Center for Self-Directed Education. Each member is matched with one of the staff, Andrea or Catina, who set aside time to meet individually each week. It’s hard to overestimate the importance for young people of being heard and known rather than feeling like a number. Having a caring, supportive and knowledgeable adult as an ally helps young people to make the most of their time at Embark Center.

Mentors also help connect young people to the learning opportunities at Embark, online and in the wider community. We help them keep track of what they learn and experience for whatever next steps they are planning to take after Embark.

We know that sometimes parents also have questions. "What steps do we need to take to apply to college? How does a young person get working papers so they can get a job? What is the process to get a driver’s license?" Chances are, we have helped other families do whatever you have questions about. We schedule three routine family meetings throughout the year, but you can get all the help and support you need with just a phone call or email to your child’s mentor.

The community at Embark Center is one of the highlights for many of our members. We experience “reverse snow day syndrome”; instead of cheering when we have to close for bad weather, our members are disappointed because they genuinely enjoy being at Embark. And why not? Who wouldn’t want to go to a place where you are welcomed, have friends, can learn about things you are interested in and have time to laugh, play and enjoy yourself?

We intentionally keep the community small, no more than 30 or so at capacity. We want everyone’s voice to matter so they don't feel like they are just a cog in a machine.

While not perfect, we work really hard to keep the Embark Center community welcoming and inclusive; a place where people are respected for who they are. For young people who are coming from a hard social situation in school, the friends and acceptance that they find in the Embark community can be the most valuable experience they have.

Many people are astounded by the huge number of opportunities there are for young people to learn independently of the traditional school system. Embark Center for Self-Directed Education serves as both the provider of and connector to this world of possibility.

The classes and activities at Embark typically meet once a week for an hour, average between three and eight attendees, and cover a whole range of interests - everything from traditional subjects like algebra and writing to interest-specific subjects like learning Japanese or computer programming. Andrea and Catina lead some of the classes, but the learning opportunities at Embark Center may also be provided by community volunteers who wish to share their time and talent with interested young people. This allows us to provide a huge diversity of offerings based on our members’ interests.

Embark Center members work together to plan trips and special workshops based on their interests. These can include anything from a nature hike to a day in Washington DC visiting the many historical sites and museums or an experience with a local potter learning to throw a pot on a wheel.

Since Embark Center is a small community, there are many leadership opportunities. Our members organize trips, lead our weekly all-group meeting, take on roles in the community, like first-aid and safety manager, and even lead classes or offer one-on-one music lessons to other members.

Many parents worry that leaving traditional schools to use self-directed education will somehow limit the opportunities or choices their children have after they leave Embark Center. Nothing could be further from the truth!

A large majority of members from centers like ours choose to attend college. Many people are surprised that young people who don’t attend school can go to college. In a recent report, Moving on from North Star to Young Adulthood, Ken Danford confirms that the percent of North Star alumni who move on to college is similar to those who were traditionally schooled.  The self-directed-education-to-college path is well established in the United States. There have been millions of young people who homeschooled or had other non-traditional schooling backgrounds who went to college. This is a routine application process for colleges and doesn’t disadvantage families who choose this educational route. Our mentors help young people document their learning and create a narrative transcript that translates into a form colleges understand. Every young person who has attended Liberated Learners centers that wanted to go to college has, often to their first choice school.

The second most common next step for our members is either into the working or entrepreneurial world. Young people can use the flexibility and control offered by self-directed education to start learning the skills needed to be successful in a given career. The budding software designer can start coding and building products. The future carpenter can start informally apprenticing on jobs around town. The would-be salon owner can start doing their friends’ and families’ hair and makeup. Instead of squeezing your interests into “after-school” time, you can work on your interests as the main focus of your education.

Finally, some of our members may take time after Embark to travel or do a gap year before heading to college or into the workforce. The big message is that anything young people can do by attending school, they can still do through self-directed education. Embark Center is here to help provide and connect young people to those opportunities.

One of the most unique aspects of Embark Center for Self-Directed Education is that classes and tutorials can be led by community volunteers. We ask members regularly if there is anything else that they'd like to work on or learn, which often leads us to search in the local community for someone who is willing to share their time and talents with a young person. We’re constantly amazed at the talented and dedicated people we are able to find or who find us.

Embark Center members get to learn computer programming from actual computer programmers or people who have an incredible passion for it and want to share that with others; Spanish from native speakers; agriculture from farmers. Getting exposure to and making contacts with people who are active or retired in areas which young people are interested is an incredibly valuable experience and can lead to many opportunities down the road.