Session 2, Week 6
“To _________ for helping me with math when you had your own math to do, I call that kindness. To the Exhibition Committee for being willing to help out and trying hard, I call that helpfulness. To _____, _____ and ____ for helping clean up the quest table, I call that responsibility. To ______ for helping me for so long figure out my quest challenge, I call that kindness.” And it goes on and on. Sometimes I take Character Call outs for granted. But when I think about the fact that it is 23 young people ages 11-14 spending 10 minutes verbally calling out one another for the great things they do – without any coercion and reward – I recognize it is pretty spectacular. I am grateful for Character Call outs. I am grateful for so many things about CHOICE and your heroes. Not only during Thanksgiving, but every day. This week is just a great time to share our gratitude. So without further ado, here is what we as heroes and guides at CHOICE are grateful for…
The Spark heroes
I’m grateful for…
…my family and my house.
…my friends.
…Jesus.
…my friends, God, clothes, my house, my family, food to eat.
I’m grateful that…
…I have a good family.
…we have squads so one person doesn’t clean up the entire area.
…I have chickens and I saw them growing up.
…we get to make our own choices like if we want to do language or math.
…I have friends that love me.
…I have clothes, a house, and my parents can afford to send me to school.
…we have freedoms and opportunities.
…we can do all the fun things like our three challenging goals.
…I’ve met some great guides.
…I’ve finished gold drawers!
…we can have outside time.
…we can build toy robots and other stuff.
…we have special privileges like taking off our shoes.
…I’ve learned a lot of reading.
…I learned writing.
…we can have this wonderful school.
…we have fun when we’re learning.
…you don’t have to sit at a desk and there are a bunch of works to choose from.
…stuff that is challenging. Stuff is challenging when it’s fun.
I’m glad we have snack so we don’t starve until lunchtime.
I’m grateful for FRIENDS!
I love my mom and dad and my whole family.
I like doing the works.
My family, love, everything I have, and my parents.
I love playing with my friends.
The Spark guides
We are so grateful that we get to experience these precious moments with your children. They. Are. Wonderful. We love watching the light in their eyes as they struggle through a challenge and come away feeling empowered. We are so grateful for their honesty, trust, and friendship. We love our studio discussions and their passion behind their strong opinions. We love that we get to discuss things like: Are Pokemon alive? Are dinosaurs still on the Earth? Are you a better friend because you have things in common or because you can celebrate your differences? Each day brings new adventures. We are grateful for the chance we have to see a glimpse of each hero’s journey and their growth over time.
The Fire Studio heroes
What are you grateful for about your life?
“Hockey, that I have this school, parents, Christmas, my mom and brother, family and friends, gymnastics, rock music, food and water, food, bed, soccer, family, blankets, air, water, food, birds, my family, family, mom and dad, my bearded dragon, Nintendo Switch, soccer and my brother, soccer, guns, my friends and my mom and my dad, mentors, my family, my family, family”
What are you grateful for about CHOICE?
“soccer, hour long lunch, freedom, good friends, freedom, freedom, there are so many kind people, I can set my own goals, freedom, freedom, shelter when it’s cold, friends, helpers, freedom, CHOICE is fun, we get to go at our own pace, it’s fun!!!!!!!!!!!, freedom and friends, Cameron, CHOICES, friends, you can choose what you work on, I have friends, freedom, CHOICES”
The Fire Studio guides
We are grateful to spend our days surrounded by extraordinary growth, encouragement, comfort, and fun. We are grateful to witness young people cheer as loudly for the heroes who spelled incorrectly as the heroes who spelled correctly in the Spelling Bee. We are grateful for a studio full of heroes who freely chose to spell in front of their friends despite the chance of failure.
We are grateful for peer-led PE & Meditation, and for heroes who listen to each other with respect, mobilize to help set up or clean up, and quickly come to the side of a friend suffering from a bruised knee or a disappointing loss.
We are grateful to see heroes jump to try new things each day, and to diligently keep on trying the old things during Core Skills each morning.
We are grateful for the beautiful role of mentoring between the Fire Studio, DELTA Studio, and Spark Studio.
We are grateful for the delightful, thoughtful, respectful, wise, and humorous comments the heroes surprise us with in each Socratic Discussion.
We are grateful for this beautiful earth and all it provides in allowing us to endlessly learn and explore together. We are grateful for learners who face challenges and find joy in discovery, learning, and teamwork.
We are grateful for hero led Exhibitions that allow them opportunities to plan and execute events. We are grateful for reflection discussions about how they would like to improve their Exhibition each session, as well as what excellence looks like. One hero wisely shared, “it is not striving for perfection, but improvement.”
We are grateful for brave parents who come to Exhibition and engage in all the challenges and activities… even trying Sulphuric Volcanic salt!
We are grateful for supportive parents who come to Exhibition and ask questions of and celebrate with their children.
We are grateful for supportive parents who come to Exhibition and ask questions of and celebrate with other’s children! (Look closely, every parent pictured is talking to someone else’s child!)
We are grateful for the courage heroes choose when presenting to a crowd of people.
We are grateful for people outside of CHOICE willing to share with us, such as Julie the Geologist from Kennecott Mine. We are grateful for the well-thought out questions heroes asked her and the respect they showed her. We are grateful for the kind heroes who helped her load her heavy boxes into the car.
We are grateful for the the beautiful, wet, fall day to gather around a fire and share Sedimentary S’Mores with each other. We are grateful to witness such kindness among friends; how they all made sure everyone had a marshmallow or strawberry and how they accept each other even when they disagree about critical questions such as which is better: a burnt marshmallow or a golden brown marshmallow!
The DELTA Studio heroes
What are you grateful for about your life?
“family, My family, My parents, My family, my family, the amazing friends and family around me, Food, Life, soccer and my family, My hair. I love my hair, and if I had no hair, my life would be horrible., I can be alone for long periods of time., How many things that I love that I get to do, Helpful and loving friends, Friends, food, my relatives, I am grateful that I can read, living in America, school, having a great family, soccer”
What is something else you are grateful for about your life?
“Me, Choice, friends, The sun, my house, this world with food and water that I can live on., I am incredibly grateful that I live in a free country where I can learn what I want and express my ideas freely., Family, My family (including cats) I love you family!, my dog, Family, Soccer, nature, A welcoming Running Partner, Life, cars, juice, my passions, I am grateful that I can do math, my dogs, my friends, having a house, my family”
What are you grateful for about CHOICE?
“freedom, Making me struggle, Everyone is so nice, My friends, my friends, the amazing people, Freedom to choose what I learn., Being able to learn on my own., All the kind people there., people, choice, How I learn so much more, its a good school, Freedom., Friends, the supportive community, that i can follow my passions, I am grateful that I can learn at my own pace, That I can learn on my own, being part of it, the people, friends.”
What is something else you are grateful for about CHOICE?
“Amigos, being able to learn, the guides are really nice, Our freedom, the teachers, there are no teachers., I am grateful that Choice teaches me important life skills., being around people that will help me, The space to just have freedom., soccer, Friends, The community, its fun, opportunity to learn by yourself, Learning and independence, you always get new markers right before it’s going to drive me insane, how much fun we have and how much i enjoy learning, that it forces me to be accountable to myself, That nobody’s forcing me to do anything, the community, the trust, the culture”
The DELTA Studio guides
We are grateful for examples of persistence all around us.
We are grateful for insightful heroes who put effort into giving helpful feedback to one another and who are humble enough to receive feedback. Their answers to the question “What do you want to do differently next session after receiving your feedback,” was inspiring.
We are grateful for heroes vulnerability and willingness to engage in all sorts of different learning challenges.
We are grateful for parents vulnerability and willingness to engage in support of their children and other’s children – and have fun together!
We are grateful:
…to work with hopeful, kind, funny young people.
…for glorious learning messes.
…for studio maintenance.
…to work at a place where guides and heroes alike are excited to come every day.
…for daily reminders at work of what things really matter.
…that heroes’ journeys don’t have deadlines!
And what am I grateful for??? All of it! The freedom we have to create and attend a learning place of our choosing. The heroes, parents and guides that make up CHOICE. The courage, patience, bravery, humility and trust I witness every day. The struggles, frustration and hard things that I observe every day. The fun, laughter, and joy that I share in every day. The kindness and compassion that I benefit from each day. Thank you for sharing your children with us. Thank you for building a community with us. My heart is truly filled with gratitude for you not just on Thanksgiving, but all year long.