About Michael

Michael Sheppard develops educational programs that respect the nature and dignity of children.

In 1991 Michael moved west to direct the Santa Fe Community School.  Afterwards he taught math, writing, science and music at a number of small private schools in Santa Fe.  In 1994 he joined the Santa Fe Children’s Museum, serving as floor manager, exhibit designer, educational outreach coordinator and teacher trainer.  Michael honed his model of small group project based mathematics instruction at the Tortuga Tutorial Learning Center, a 501c3 non-profit he founded in 1996.  In 1999 Michael created the year round science and mathematics program Big Sky Learning.  By 2017, over ten thousand youth, teens, and teaching professionals had participated in Big Sky Learning programs in Santa Fe and Los Alamos.  

Michael believes that effective learning is built on trust between teacher and student, that the best teachers are often older peers, and that the best lessons are challenging, hands-on, project based activities requiring cooperation among children of different ages.

Michael currently provides Big Sky Learning kits and instructions for other NM STEAM programs, leads small group STEAM workshops at MAKE Santa Fe and tutors elementary and middle school mathematics.