Session 5

9:15 to 10:15 AM
Education 2

ARES Learning: Preparing Students for Humanity’s Multi-Planet Future

Presenter: Dr. Mark Wagner

The Academy for Relentless Exploration of Space, or ARES Learning, is a vision for a high school focused on preparing students to participate in the growing space economy and in humanity’s rapidly approaching mulit-planet future. The core curriculum is covered efficiently through a self-paced blended learning approach. In addition to their core subjects, all students participate fully in the rich experience of a supplemental “Launchpad Curriculum” where they are exposed to new ways of thinking - and get to set the Trajectory of their own advanced learning. The school focuses on building the skill sets and mindsets students will need to be successful in the coming decades: the explorer’s mindset, moonshot thinking, design methods, synthesis, and self-reflection. Ultimately, students participate in the Moonshot Laboratory, addressing problems in their world that they are passionate about solving.

Dr. Mark Wagner serves as President of Space Prize, a nonprofit organization focused on promoting STEM education and increasing the representation of women in aerospace careers. He also teaches the Space Education graduate certificate program at Kepler Space Institute, and is the Associate Editor for the Journal of Space Philosophy. In addition, he is the founder of ARES Learning, which provides a vision for schools that prepare students with the skill sets and mindsets they’ll need to be successful in the growing space economy - and in humanity’s rapidly approaching multi-planet future.