HERO ACADEMY LITERATURE COURSE
C.S. Lewis: The Lion, the Horse, and the Hero Within
A 10-week literature adventure through great books, better writing, and the discovery of who your student is becoming.
10-Week Course
Lessons released gradually beginning September 8, 2026
Grades 6-8
Designed specifically for middle school students
Self-Paced Lessons
Pre-recorded instruction students can complete at home
Two Great Books
Biography, fiction, literature analysis, and writing
Only 30 Students
Limited inaugural-course enrollment
Literature Should Be More Than Worksheets and Book Reports
Too many literature courses teach students how to finish a book without ever helping them understand why the story matters.
Students identify a theme, answer a few comprehension questions, write a report, and move on. They may complete the assignment, but they rarely connect the story to their own choices, identity, or growth.
Hero Academy takes a different approach. Students explore great stories through the Hero’s Journey and ask a more meaningful question:
"What can this story teach me about becoming stronger, wiser, and more heroic in my own life?"
Because the best books do more than improve reading skills. They help young people better understand themselves.
Your Student Will Learn to Read Like a Thinker, Write Like a Creator, and Live Like a Hero
Read Like a Thinker
Students will examine character choices, themes, conflicts, and turning points rather than simply memorizing literary terms. They will learn to ask why characters act as they do and what those decisions reveal.
Write Like a Creator
Students will strengthen sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, and clarity while developing an original short story that communicates a meaningful lesson.
Live Like a Hero
Students will connect literature to their own lives through challenges involving pride, identity, courage, growth, and the kind of person they want to become.
This Fall’s Adventure: Pride, Identity, and the Hero Within
In C.S. Lewis: The Lion, the Horse, and the Hero Within, students will spend 10 weeks exploring the life and imagination of one of the most influential authors of the twentieth century.
Students will first read C.S. Lewis: Master Storyteller from the Christian Heroes: Then & Now series. They will discover how Lewis’s experiences, struggles, beliefs, friendships, and creative choices helped shape the stories he eventually wrote.
They will then journey into the world of Narnia through The Horse and His Boy, a story filled with mistaken identity, the folly of pride, purpose, courage, and the discovery that a person’s beginnings do not have to determine their future.
Together, the two books allow students to study both the author and his creation while examining one central question:
Who are you becoming—and what might be preventing you from recognizing who you were meant to be?
More Than Reading: A Complete Literature and Writing Experience
Literature Analysis
Students will examine theme, character development, conflict, symbolism, motivation, and the consequences of important choices.
Pride and Identity
Students will explore how pride distorts self-perception, how identity develops, and how characters learn to see themselves more truthfully.
Complex Sentences
Students will learn how independent and dependent clauses work together to create stronger, more varied sentences.
Grammar and Punctuation
Students will practice correctly punctuating complex sentences and applying those skills in their own writing.
Creative Writing
Students will plan, draft, revise, and complete an original short story designed to communicate a meaningful lesson.
Real-Life Application
Students will complete personal challenges that help them apply ideas from the books to their own habits, choices, and relationships.
How Hero Academy Works
- Step 1: Open the Weekly Quest - A new lesson unlocks each week with clear instructions about what to read, watch, write, and complete.
- Step 2: Watch the Lesson - Joey teaches the literary, writing, grammar, or personal-growth concept through engaging pre-recorded videos.
- Step 3: Complete the Mission - Students respond to the story through writing assignments, creative activities, analysis questions, and real-life challenges.
- Step 4: Continue the Journey - As students complete each stage, the next part of the course unlocks and moves them deeper into the story.
The course is self-paced within the weekly schedule. Families do not need to attend a live class at a specific time.
The Final Quest: Write a Story That Matters
Throughout the course, students will develop an original short story that teaches something meaningful without sounding like a lecture.
They will learn how authors use character, conflict, decisions, and consequences to communicate important ideas through story.
By the end of the course, students will have practiced:
- Developing an original story idea
- Creating a character who needs to grow
- Building conflict around a meaningful choice
- Writing clear and varied sentences
- Using complex sentences correctly
- Revising for clarity and impact
- Communicating a lesson through story
- Completing a polished short-story draft
Instead of ending the course with another forgettable book report, students finish by becoming storytellers themselves.
Everything Included in the Course
- 10 Weeks of Pre-Recorded Video Lessons
Engaging instruction in literature, writing, grammar, and personal development - A Guided Study of Two Books
C.S. Lewis: Master Storyteller and The Horse and His Boy (books not included) - Weekly Reading Guides and Assignments
Clear instructions that help students and parents know exactly what to complete - Literature Analysis Activities
Questions and exercises that move beyond basic comprehension - Complex-Sentence Instruction
Practical lessons on clauses, sentence construction, commas, and punctuation - Creative Writing Missions
Activities that guide students toward an original short story - Real-Life Hero Challenges
Personal applications connected to humility, identity, and character growth - Final Short-Story Project
A complete creative-writing experience from idea to revised draft - Custom AI-Graded Feedback
Students receive feedback on select assignments designed to help them improve their writing, apply course concepts, and revise their work.
Who This Course Is For
This Course Is a Great Fit for Students Who:
- Are currently in grades 6–8
- Enjoy stories, fantasy, adventure, or creative writing
- Need a more engaging alternative to traditional language arts
- Are ready to think more deeply about what they read
- Benefit from self-paced lessons and flexible scheduling
- Want to improve their writing without completing endless worksheets
- Are interested in questions about identity, character, and personal growth
- Can complete weekly lessons with reasonable parent support
This May Not Be the Best Fit for Students Who:
- Need daily live instruction from a teacher
- Are not yet able to read the assigned books independently
- Need intensive one-on-one writing remediation
- Want to complete the full course in only a few days
- Are looking solely for a traditional test-and-grade literature class
Created by a Teacher, Writer, and Teen Coach
Hero Academy Courses are created and taught by Joey Mascio, a credentialed secondary teacher who has spent years helping middle schoolers strengthen their thinking, emotional resilience, communication, and confidence.
Joey holds a master’s degree in education and a bachelor’s degree in creative writing. He is also certified in cognitive behavioral techniques and has worked with thousands of teens through his classroom teaching (8+ years), coaching, speaking, and Sidekick to Hero program.
He created Hero Academy to combine the parts of language arts that matter most: great stories, practical writing skills, critical thinking, creativity, and the lessons young people need as they begin deciding who they want to become.
Join the Adventure!
C.S. Lewis: The Lion, the Horse, and the Hero Within
- 10-week literature and writing course
- Begins September 8, 2026
- Pre-recorded, self-paced weekly lessons
- Designed for grades 6–8
- Two-book guided study
- Literature, grammar, and creative-writing instruction
- Final original short-story project
- Limited to 30 students
$147
One-time payment. Books purchased separately.
11/15 spots left
STILL GOT QUESTIONS? WE GOT YOU!
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the course begin?
The first lesson will be released on September 8, 2026. New course content will continue to unlock throughout the 10-week experience.
Is the course live?
No. Lessons are pre-recorded, allowing students to complete them according to their family’s schedule.
How much time will the course take each week?
Plan about 1-2 hours each week, split between reading the book, watching the lesson, and completing the assignment
Which books will my student need?
Students will read C.S. Lewis: Master Storyteller from the Christian Heroes: Then & Now series and The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis.
Are the books included in the $147 price?
No, the books must be purchased separately or secured through your local library.
How long will students have access to the course?
Students will have access to the course for 12 months.
Does my student need to log in at a certain time?
No. Students can complete the weekly lessons at the time that works best for their schedule.
Will each assignments receive feedback?
Only select assignments will receive feedback. Feedback will be processed through a custom trained AI agent to give student clear, consistent, and reliable feedback on their work according to Joey's lessons.
Does my student need to log in at a certain time?
This is a focused 10-week literature and writing course. Families should compare the course content with their specific school, charter, or homeschool requirements before using it as a complete language arts credit.
Can younger or older students participate?
The course is designed for grades 6–8. A strong fifth-grade reader or interested ninth grader may also benefit, but the instruction and assignments are written for middle school students.
Give Your Student a Literature Course Worth Remembering
Stories help young people rehearse life before they have to live it. They allow students to witness the folly of pride, courage, failure, identity, and transformation through someone else’s journey—and then consider what those lessons might mean for their own.
This fall, your student will not simply read two books and turn in assignments. They will explore the life of a master storyteller, enter one of his greatest adventures, strengthen their own writing, and consider the hero they are becoming.
Begins September 8, 2026 · Grades 6–8 · Limited to 30 students
