Sparking curiosity through enrichment classes and mentorship
Our Mission
Curious Cardinals aims to ignite passions in our students with engaging, challenging materials and inspiring mentors, so they are empowered with the knowledge and mindset to take agency over their own educational journeys and enact positive change in the world.
Rethinking Education
Traditional education models don’t ask students what they are interested in learning. Curious Cardinals does the opposite. We work with our students to develop personalized learning models so they can discover and explore their passions in a setting that liberates them from the pressure of grades and other ranking systems.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
Curious Cardinals strives to make high quality education equitable and accessible. We train our team in anti-discriminatory pedagogy and how to create inclusive classrooms. Curious Cardinals partners with Prep for Prep and is continuing to expand our own financial aid program to ensure that no student faces financial barriers to participation. We bring together diverse students, speakers, and mentors to share their perspectives and passions.
Mentoring
Our mentorship program pairs elementary to high school students with a like-minded college student. Mentors will collaborate with their mentee(s) to design a project that both supplements their conventional learning and gives students agency over their education. Throughout the year, our mentors will work with their student(s) to help them build a portfolio of interdisciplinary projects. Whether it be building a video game, recording an album, designing an airplane, starting a business, or addressing a social inequity, our mentors will challenge their mentees to achieve previously unimaginable feats.
Classes
Our reimagined online seminars of under ten students bring together a cohort from across the country to challenge each other in an interactive learning experience. Each teacher is uniquely passionate about the curriculum they create, and classes include lectures, discussions, and debates to keep things lively. We employ a diversity of media for homework including films, college level readings, and even experiments! We have invited distinguished guest speakers including Harvard Law Professor Randall Kennedy, feminist icon Liz Plank, several representatives from The Innocence Project, Dean of UC Berkeley Law School Erwin Chemerinsky, and many more.
Tutoring
Our tutors supplement the need for one-on-one attention in the age of isolating online classes. Tutors cater their materials to students’ specific interests, combining skills they want to improve, like writing, with topics they care about, like food science. Tutors demonstrate real-life applications of the conventional subjects taught in school so students see what they can do with their education. Each tutor is close enough in age to their students to relate to their interests and academic struggles. Tutors inspire our students by enthusiastically sharing their passions and demonstrating what each student is capable of achieving themselves!
