Students will learn about stories in history that are usually not discussed. 

Cultural Insight: Understanding myths and legends provides insight into the cultural, social, and historical aspects of different societies. It reflects their values, beliefs, and traditions.

Critical Thinking: Analyzing myths and legends encourages critical thinking and interpretation. It often involves symbolism and metaphor, fostering analytical skills.

Myths and legends frequently carry moral lessons, teaching ethical principles and lessons about good and bad behavior, aiding in moral development.

These classes spark imagination and creativity. Many stories, movies, and art are inspired by or directly derived from myths and legends.

Exploring myths from various cultures fosters global awareness, promoting tolerance and understanding of diverse worldviews.

Historical Context: Myths often reflect historical events and societal norms, providing a lens into the past.

Nicole Pauling: 
I have a very diverse background but have always been interested in and moved by the plights of marginalized groups and have worked and volunteered extensively within those communities for the past 30+ years. My degrees are in Psychology, Criminology, Sociology, Philosophy, and Women's studies and all of those things do show up in this class. I have been involved with journalism since I was in the 7th grade and have written for 7 newspapers. 

Some expertise areas that are utilized in this class are: 
25 years of research skills.
Sociology and psychology degrees to understand individual behavior, development, and cultural phenomena. 
SART responder (Sexual Assault Response Training-I did hospital visits to ensure that criminal evidence was properly documented in rape cases). I also photographed victims of domestic violence and documented injuries for court cases. Additionally, I manned the phone banks for emergency calls and did outreach work and trainings on college campuses.
I have taught classes on consent and safety. 
I have my Common Sense Media teacher certification for teaching students Internet Safety. 
I have raised 19 foster children and have extensive training. Many of my children are from traditionally marginalized groups. 
I ran a group home.
I ran a sexual assault shelter. 
I have written about diversity for over 25 years. 
I have run, organized, and fundraised for diversity issues for over 22 years. 

Les Pauling: I love helping students learn how to connect with one another and live their best lives. 
I have lived an adventurous life. I love to kayak, scuba dive, wreck dive, white water raft, and really do anything that just brings joy and fun into life. I balloon twist as a side gig, moonlight at festivals as "The Bad Advice Fairy," and generally think I'm funny.

I am a counselor by trade with a Master's Degree in Community Counseling and High School Guidance counseling and a bachelor's in psychology. I got my initial training as a guidance counselor and then went into 1:1 therapeutic work in schools and homes. I also have over a decade working with youth who have intellectual or developmental disabilities. 
Some things I love to do are teach students logical thinking, decision making, goal setting, and life skills.

Brooke Nelson:
I hold a doctorate in Religion from Claremont Graduate University and a Master of Arts in History from the University of California, Irvine. I taught for over 12 years at the university level, predominantly at large research focused institutions. In addition to serving as a lead author on OpenStax’s most recent World History to 1500 textbook, I published award winning peer-reviewed publications on gender in the Roman world. I enjoy working with students who have an interest in the humanities who are looking for a “guide on the side” to help them find new ways to explore educational questions.

Kristi Myers:
Above all, I am a mom. I absolutely love my daughter, who is a musician, writer and artist. It has been my greatest joy to raise her and educate her. I have always loved working with kids, and I am the "cool aunt" in my family. I have tutored college students for 12 years across many subjects, and I am used to learning new material quickly and finding creative ways to teach it to students of all ages. Kids bring me immense joy, and watching them learn and have fun is the greatest feeling. I teach intuitively and meet students where they are. I am guided by the training I received in graduate school. I have a Master of Arts in Education with an additional 15 graduate credits in child and adolescent development. In my free time, I am a musician and artist and aspiring writer. I love to spend hours online learning random things, just for fun. I also love my cats.

Elizabeth Sanchez: 
I like to go by Liz or Miss Liz. I'm a teacher, an actress, and an entrepreneur. I love history and the crazier the story the better I like it. I love to tell a good story and to really bring history to life through interaction. Hello, young historians! I'm Ms. Liz, a mystery lover and sleuth enthusiast! I’m so excited to share my fascination with history and the darker side of storytelling. Drawing from my studies in sociology and film, I aim to delve into the depths of the past, unraveling the mysteries of the human mind and exploring its impact on society. Merging my passion for people and up beat personality, my teaching style is approachable, interactive, and fun! Join me as we journey through the shadows of history and uncover its hidden truths together!

This class is designed for students who have ADHD, ASD, and other learning difficulties. All content is presented verbally and with pictures or videos to reinforce learning as well as conversation. There is no homework or writing. 

I use many sources for this class and research. In the past year alone I have done over 800 hours of history based research and actually discovered that 2 historical ideas were actually not true based on primary source documentation. In addition, I have been doing research and writing for over 25 years including interviewing Pulitzer and Nobel prize winners, and writing detailed articles about their work. I spend between 6-10 hours a week on every history class I run. I watch news programs, documentaries, read diary entries, read historical accounts, look at academic writings. While this class uses a lot of video documentation I also narrow that down to try to take complex issues and make them digestible and understandable in a short amount of time.

American Historical Association: The Professional Association for All Historians
Center for History and New Media: Guide to History Departments Around the World
Electronic Texts Collection
EuroDocs: Primary Historical Documents from Western Europe
H-Net - The History Network
Hanover Historical Texts Project
Library of Congress
New York Public Library
Women and Gender Resources on the WWW
Ancient and Medieval History

Online Medieval sources Bibliography
ABZU: Guide to Resources for the Study of the Ancient Near East
Aquinas' Summa Theologica
Byzantine & Medieval Studies Sites
Interpreting Ancient Manuscripts Web
The Labyrinth: A growing site for general medieval studies
Lingua Latina
Middle English Collection: University of Virginia Library electronic text center
The Perseus Digital Library
The French of England
The French of Italy