Description

The Principled Mentor Workshop

Mentoring Apprentice Scholars with Confidence and Purpose

Most mentors begin Scholar Phase with two things: a desire to help young people and a stack of good books. What they often lack is someone to show them how Scholar Phase actually works. Because Scholar Phase is not primarily about books, assignments, or discussions. It is about helping young people learn to think for themselves.

These are the years when scholars begin wrestling with ideas, testing convictions, discovering gifts, and deciding who they want to become. At this stage, information is not enough. Apprentice Scholars need mentors who know how to challenge without controlling, guide without rescuing, and trust students with meaningful responsibility.

The difference between a mentor who merely teaches a class and a mentor who changes a life is not charisma, personality, or expertise. It is understanding how growth happens—and learning how to create the conditions where it can flourish.

About Your Workshop Leader

For more than twenty years, Misty has helped build and lead Scholar Phase communities in Oregon and Utah, creating environments where mentors are equipped, scholars are challenged, and genuine growth takes place.

As a founding member of multiple commonwealths and co-ops, she has spent decades mentoring young people, training mentors, leading discussions, and helping families navigate the unique opportunities and challenges of Scholar Phase. Through Aspire and Inkheart, she has developed a principle-centered approach to mentoring that combines thoughtful discussion, meaningful experiences, great books, and personal responsibility.

This workshop distills lessons learned through years of mentoring, founding, leading, succeeding, and failing in the real work of Scholar Phase.

What This Workshop Is About

The Principled Mentor Workshop is grounded in the principles of Leadership Education and the mentoring philosophy behind Aspire and Inkheart. It focuses on the art of mentoring—not merely the mechanics of teaching.

Together, we’ll explore how to create an environment where scholars become active participants in their own education and where meaningful growth happens through discussion, discovery, challenge, and reflection.

Designed For

• Scholar Phase mentors
• Homeschool parents
• Commonwealth and co-op leaders
• Discussion class facilitators
• Anyone working with scholars ages 14–18

What You’ll Learn

You’ll learn how to:

• Create conditions where scholars take ownership of their own education.
• Know when to guide, when to challenge, and when to step aside.
• Ask questions that lead students to wrestle with ideas rather than memorize answers.
• Use silence, discussion, and productive tension as tools for growth.
• Draw quiet scholars into the conversation while helping strong voices elevate others.
• Turn books, stories, and experiences into opportunities for transformation.
• Help scholars move from consuming ideas to forming convictions.
• Cultivate courage, humility, responsibility, and a love of truth.
• Mentor the whole person—mind, heart, and character.

Throughout the workshop, you’ll experience practical tools and techniques that can be applied immediately, whether you’re preparing to mentor for the first time or refining a practice you’ve developed over many years.

You’ll leave with more than a collection of teaching strategies.

You’ll leave with a clearer vision of Scholar Phase, a deeper understanding of how growth happens, and greater confidence in your ability to mentor young people through one of the most important seasons of their lives.

Because Scholar Phase is not simply about covering material. It is about helping young people discover who they are, what they believe, and how they can contribute to the world.

Information fills notebooks. Mentorship shapes lives.