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iLEAD Exploration's Free Independent Study Program Personalizes the Educational Experience
iLEAD Exploration is a free public charter school program where each family is partnered with a credentialed teacher - called a facilitator - who works together with families to create a customized, individualized learning plan that's rooted in grade-level standards and is inspired by the learner's passions.
The WASC-accredited independent study program offers personalized learning opportunities for TK through 12th graders who thrive with flexible options, field studies, service projects and more.
Students are supported with Learning Offerings, complimentary educational subscriptions, webinars, community-building and enrichment activities. Instructional funds are used to support and enhance each learner's individualized learning plan, too. iLEAD Exploration values community and provides opportunities to foster friendships through park days and parent gatherings.
iLEAD Exploration's core values of accountability; personalized learning; and collaboration and community shape and inform the iLEAD Exploration experience.
For more information, log on. Ileadexploration.org

Friday | August 11
College of the Canyons Hosts Welcome Day
COC's annual Welcome Day event is open to anyone interested in enrollment. You will partake in multiple workshops, tour the campus, talk with faculty and meet fellow new students, explore the majors offered, learn about campus life, student support programs and resources, receive personalized help with applying and registering and get some tips on how to prepare yourself for the first day of classes. Held from 9am to 1pm at the Valencia Campus.
canyons.edu/schedule

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Gilchrist Farm Hosts Summer Camp at the Farm
Through August 4, your kids ages 5 to 16 could be enjoying a wholesome summer of farm fun! From traditional crafts to horse riding, goat milking to baby-chick cuddling and more, Gilchrist Farm's annual Summer Farm Camp is a traditional tech-free favorite. Choose one week or all of them - and get ready for a summer filled with memorable moments.
gilchristfarm.com

Thursdays | July 20 & August 17
Children's Bureau Hosts Virtual Online Foster Care & Adoption Orientation
Be the reason a child thrives! A report of child abuse is made every 10 seconds. This doesn't have to happen. Learn how you can be a part of the story to strengthen at-risk families and communities so every child can grow up safe, nurtured and full of potential.
Attend this one-hour virtual online orientation and learn how to become a foster or foster-adoptive family. all4kids.org

Marine Biology Gives TMU Students Hands-On Ocean Experiences
by Camden Specht
Across The Master's University's 16 majors and more than 70 emphases, there are a wide variety of specialized courses that can be enjoyed by students from any major.
This includes Marine Biology (LS346), a course taught in TMU's School of Science, Mathematics, Technology & Health. The course is a hands-on experience that combines classroom teaching with whale watching, tide pool searches and snorkeling.
Dr. Matthew Ingle, associate professor of biological science, jumped at the opportunity to teach students the intricacies of how the ocean can offer glimpses into the Creator's beauty.
"[In the classroom], we anchor our minds in what the Bible reveals about marine life long before we ever get to see it," Ingle said.
The idea behind this approach is to give students a good working knowledge for identification and to allow students to better appreciate what they see in the latter part of the course, allowing students to witness the Creator's hand in a very real way.
For more information about TMU's academic programs, log on. masters.edu
Camden Specht graduated this May from TMU's Creative Writing & Publishing program.