CHECstra Teen

Interdisciplinary learning for teens

CHECstra Day offers teens a mixture of academic development, social time, and recreation. The program emphasizes choice in learning and teens are included in planning and rotating activities. Most days, our schedule is:

In-depth Study

This session, we'll have two periods of in-depth study:

Rhetoric: The Art of Effective Speaking

Tasting  History

Food is one of the most powerful things. It’s necessary for our survival. It brings us together as a community. It also sometimes divides us into those who eat or don’t eat certain things. Mostly, it is the vehicle through which many cultural customs and traditions are carried out. 

This class will explore the ways in which food has influenced history and also how history has sometimes influenced food. Each week we’ll recreate a few recipes based on the historical texts available. We’ll make tiger nut cake from ancient Egypt, epityrum aka olive tapenade from the Roman Republic era, lasagne from 14th century Italy, and beef with garlic harvester sauce from 1580’s Transylvania. We’ll craft precedella from Germany, samosas from the Mughal Empire, and Aztec chocolate from Mexico. Come experience the past through stories and recipes and ,hopefully, delicious food!

Side note: We will do our best to accommodate allergies and individual preferences, and students are never required to try any food. Please be aware that we will not be in an allergen free kitchen and cannot rule out cross contamination. Let me know of any allergies, insensitivities, or basic dislikes and I will attempt to work around those.

Rotating Period

Lunch is followed by a rotating activity each week. Past activities have included a local scavenger hunt, Zentangles creations, cooking lunch, team Jeopardy, puzzle chess, attending a Shakespeare production of Macbeth, and First Aid instruction. Fall activities will continue to represent a variety of interests and activities selected with input from enrolled teens and may include a field day, a physics egg drop challenge, a career assessment, Halloween-themed mystery role play event and more.

Fall Term Dates

Please take note of the exact days for fall term CHECstra Teen Day. We will have class on the following WEDNESDAYS: September 10, 17, 24 October 1, 8, 22, 29 November 5. October 15th is CHECstra's fall break and our make up day falls on November 12th. CHECstra Day runs from 11-3:30, however, students are invited to arrive at 10:30am and/or stay until 4pm for optional extra social time. 

Questions? For further information, please contact the instructors at [email protected].

Instructor: Amy Eachus

Amy Eachus is a former public school teacher who took a different path and now homeschools her three children. She loves learning beside them. She’s passionate about nature, art, and children’s literature. She also enjoys gardening, watching science documentaries, and crocheting. She feels her primary role as a teacher is to assist her students in making their own discoveries. As Socrates said, “I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.” 

Instructor: Maggie Lee

A mom of two, I have been homeschooling for over 12 years. My teaching style emphasizes student centered learning--I encourage active classroom discussion and participation while working to celebrate each student's strengths. Motivating students through interactive, dynamic lessons makes learning more relevant and meaningful. My goal is to make knowledge fun and accessible to every student.

Instructor: Susan Maccarelli

Susan is a parent of two CHEC teens and has enjoyed teaching classes since starting at CHEC in 2022. She has offered many board and card gaming classes as Mystery Role Play and crafts classes. Susan enjoys volunteering at CHEC and playing with her mini schnoodle pup.  Susan has a Masters degree in Education from JMU, and is looking forward to offering some new and interesting rotating options for CHECstra Teen.