About Samantha

Samantha Matalone Cook, MAT,  is an educator, historian, writer, maker, and speaker. She has almost three decades of experience in education, program development, and the arts and is a dedicated mentor and lifelong learner. She has a BA in Humanities with an emphasis in Medieval History and Archaeology, and an MAT from the George Washington Graduate School of Education and Human Development, specializing in Museum Education. As an educator, Samantha has worked with both small and large organizations to create educational programming that centers and connects the learner to concepts and skills. She has taught in classrooms and in private workshops, mentored other educators, and worked for and with many museums and non-profit organizations, including the Smithsonian. 

Samantha consistently writes about history and the humanities, feminism, mythology, human development and learning, and alternative education and educational reform for various publications. She is an active speaker and advocate, featured at many events including Mastermind Talks, Maker Faire Bay Area, Maker Faire New York, East Bay Maker Faire, The Global Education Conference, AERO, SEA, many homeschooling and worldschooling conferences, professional development seminars for various school districts, and more. 

Samantha is a founder and advisor of Mothership Hackermoms, an organization in Berkeley that gives new mothers creative support and provides child care. She is founder and former ED for Curiosity Hacked, a non-profit hackerspace for kids and families, where she built international learning communities and pushed the boundaries of what learner-centered, alternative STEAM education could look like. 

Samantha works on a consulting basis with both educators and organizations, and leads professional development workshops. She continues to experiment with learning through teaching dynamic, project-based classes on history and the humanities through the lens of art and invention, expanding how her favorite subjects can be used as a catalyst for understanding, expression, and intersectionality. 

Samantha co-authored the book Project-Based Learning: Creating a Modern Education of Curiosity, Innovation, and Impact, and What is Magic? An Unofficial Exploration of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, which is the first in a series of project-based learning centered book studies. She is now working on History Odyssey Ancients, which is the first in a series of multidisciplinary curriculum for Pandia Press, along with  a companion guide designed to build students’ skills in historical research and writing. Samantha is also teaching History and Humanities courses online. She finds new adventures and manages mischief every day with her three teens, all home educated; the two oldest of whom have recently fledged into college.