Session 1, Week 3
A Gaga Ball pit. Many of us had never heard of it. What is it? Plastic planks hooked together to form a shape and and an old rubber school yard ball. What has it been transformed into – a place of unity where all 3 studios come together and play together of their own volition. Vincent Van Gogh said “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” The Gaga ball pit is producing something great. Another great thing done each year at Acton Academies all over the world is the creation of a Lip Dub. A Lip Dub is a music video/skit entirely planned, created, performed, recorded and edited (if you are in a Middle School studio) by the learners. In the Fire Studio, the guide helps guide the music choice and then steps out of the way. In the DELTA Studio, the guide sets aside time for the lip dub on the schedule and coordinates rides for the heroes for off campus filming. Other than that, the guides don’t do anything other than watch the awesome process unfold. The Lip Dub is an awesome example of “Great things [being] done by a series of small things brought together.”
In the Fire Studio It was amazing to sit back and watch as the heroes choreographed, memorized lyrics, rehearsed, made production decisions, remembered props from home, mended hurt feelings, gave and took feedback, and did upwards of 15 run-throughs to get a take that they could agree on. I remember my first year wondering if producing a lip dub was a justifiable use of several hours of school a day over 3 weeks. Five years later, witnessing the unity built, the problem-solving skills developed, the laughs and silly memories created, the feeling of pride in each hero, and the emergence of a tribe that can communicate and hold each member accountable, I can’t think of a better use of those several hours. The fire studio is a place of high emotion, and producing a music video together is no easy task. The heroes are amazing at noticing when emotions are running high, talking to struggling heroes in a discrete and respectful way, and most often convincing each other to forgive slights and try again. More than once when several heroes felt they had done one-too-many run-throughs and were ready to quit, an older hero’s rallying plea of, “WE NEED EVERYONE!” brought them and their particular contributions back to the project. Great things happened through each daily practice.
During Core Skills time, the Fire Studio had an unintentional theme of sight this week. On Monday heroes learned to see (and taste) their challenges in the form of the Challenge Donut, with the goal of spending as much time in that delicious challenge zone as possible. On 9/11, heroes listened to the story of Michael, a blind man working on the 78th floor of World Trade Center Tower 1, and his heroic guide dog, Roselle. FS heroes looked for and found 9/11 heroes at every point of Michael’s incredible story. Heroes also watched some Paris Paralympic blind soccer and in learning about Beethoven’s distracting monster of tinnitus and hearing loss, considered what physical senses would be devastating to lose, and which ones tend to bring most distraction into their efforts to focus. Other highlights of the week included new Writer’s Gym levels and completing their studio maintenance system. Squads grew closer through skits and other challenges, and one new-to-CHOICE hero exclaimed he was excited to come to school–for the first in his life. This great thing (a love of school) was brought about by small, daily, meaningful work!
In the DELTA Studio we enjoyed a similar Lip Dub process. However, we were able to witness the benefits that come with a few more years of experience. Having done this process several time, the heroes organize themselves faster and use their various skills efficiently; choreographers choreographed, visionaries wrote the story board, others created sets and costumes, editors spent hours editing, and everyone enjoyed participating. It was so fun to watch new heroes come out of their shell and take leadership roles throughout this process and to watch new and old heroes come together in friendship. It was inspiring to observe how the process has changed and refined over the years and how small things over the years (and this year) have produced great things such as creativity, project management, editing skills, confidence, and tribe unity.
During Quest heroes worked on an RV refrigerator, explored an old dinosaur TV and it’s lens, experimented with building a desk with the linear actuator, worked on the battery and exhaust, melted wax to make candles and a few got in some heavy grinding when a nut on a tire was rusted on. The next step for the candle makers is casting wax in sand. Another car is on it’s way which will provide a plethora of opportunities as it can be totally taken apart. Small things in the way of donations of old “stuff” is providing a great opportunity to explore, experiment and learn new skills.
In the Spark Studio the lip dub creation will happen next week. This week we watched great conversations and realizations happen through many small launches and challenges.
We watched some paralympic clips and then created our own paralympic sporting events, two of which were sitting “keepy-uppy” and Spark volleyball. We developed a greater love and appreciation for paralympians.
We learned about Mr. Resistance, a monster that can sometimes appear on our hero’s journey. Mr. Resistance can tell us things are too hard or that we can’t accomplish our goal.
We discussed what it means to be a true hero and similarities between Olympians and heroes. The Sparks decided that being a true hero means walking into fear, being brave, being kind, working hard, not giving up, being a helper, and showing patriotism. As we discover the hero in ourselves we begin to see the hero in others as well.
We enjoyed a launch about the book ‘How Full is Your Bucket?’ During the launch one hero exclaimed, “When I help other people it makes me feel really good too!” Later two heroes were sad because one person washed all the dishes and they wanted to wash the dishes as well. Neither hero dirtied the dishes.
As the parent meeting ended on Thursday night, a parent who has been with us since year 1 commented “Just a few more than we had Year 1 huh?!” It was incredible to see the growth in numbers. Even more meaningful was to see the growth in community. Little by little, year by year, your small acts of kindness, reaching out, mentoring and taking initiative, have produced a community of parents which is truly a gift for me to be a part of. Yes in each studio – including the parents – we observe great things happening through bringing together a series of small things. Not only is it joyful to watch, but it is hopeful; we don’t have to worry about doing something great every day, we can just continue to do meaningful small things each day and watch the greatness unfold!