While most middle school kids take naps, send tweets, or just space out during art history, the students in Mr. James Earle’s classroom are not just learning the differences between Baroque and Renaissance art, but how to create art themselves through video production. Amor Sciendi (roughly translated to mean love knowing or love knowledge?) began in 2010 as lesson plans, collaboratively created with Kate and Gavin Nelson as well as students through Curious.com, to make art history accessible and fun for kids. Formerly with the Ross School in East Hampton, New York and now with the AltSchool in San Francisco, California, Earle’s quirky delivery and straight-talk approach seems to be working and even the folks at YouTube have taken notice, naming Earle YouTube’s 2012 EDU Guru.

Already having a degree in Renaissance History from the University of London, Earle’s thirst for knowledge was still unquenched. This past year, Earle took a break from teaching to study and earn an MS in Gastronomical Sciences in Pollenzo, Italy with an apparent focus on the art of cheese. His adventures are being documented for Amor Sciendi in a three-part series, the first being Cheese and Terrior (meaning soil, land or country the cheese is made). Be sure to subscribe to the channel to see all three videos, the next being Cheese and Love ending with Cheese and Death.

Stay Cheesy, Mr. Earle!