Session 5, Week 4
March in Utah is always a fascinating month to me. It vacillates between days that are a continuation of the long Utah winter, and days that give me beautiful hope that spring is coming! It is a mix of old and new – a reminder of the past and the beginnings of a fresh start. We could feel that in our studios this week. Wrapping up the old with the end of session approaching, and yet the opportunity for fresh starts!
The Fire Studio had a lot of celebrating the end of longer efforts this week. Heroes who completed at least 80% of the GRIT challenges after lunch celebrated by swimming at the rec center and all heroes now have a fresh start at GRIT next session.
Heroes who completed the PI Day challenge explore tables celebrated their long term efforts with a Pi Party.
Heroes who completed the Biology EXPLORE table this session had the option to join the Delta studio for an eye dissection.
And now these old EXPLORE tables are being replaced with fresh materials—new starts are so exciting!
Each week is a fresh start as heroes can learn from their last week and earn a higher freedom level by completing their weekly goals. Even each day is a fresh start. On two separate days this week, heroes self-rated on a high five how happy they were with how they used their core skills time. Numerous heroes rated a higher number of fingers the second day and were excited to share what they changed to reach that higher rating.
One hero faced three previously intimidating experiences with fresh courage and found he could do it this week—first time participating in a dissection, first time jumping off the diving board, and first time completing a new daily checklist system!
Quest time saw the fruition of 3 weeks of hard work as heroes began actually building their schools. And yet also saw fresh starts for a few partnerships who have been putting in the hard work of resolving collaboration challenges.
Some Heroes discovered new abilities as they participated in multiple Improv scenarios – they became aliens, tigers, or cows which they quickly followed up with hilarious antics posing in family vacation photos. They cheered each other on as some heroes faced fears performing in front of others.
This week the Spark Studio experienced more independence and more responsibility. The studio wanted a fresh start in certain areas and took control to make it happen. They wanted to change up the structure of how they do songs/calendar time and they wanted more accountability for not keeping studio promises. The differences from these changes were noticeable; learners participated and engaged even more.
The Spark Studio directed our exploration to the arts this week. Heroes explored Picasso and cubism, the magic of creating puppets, an Irish jig, and a dance performance by one of our very own Sparks.
All this exposure sparked a ton of creativity. During choice work cycle this week our studio was transformed into several performance areas. We had a variety of entertainment, including dance, gymnastics, and puppet shows.
We wrapped up our week with a field trip to Capitol Theatre to watch a hero perform with their dance company. The performance, called The Journey, was a beautiful representation of a Hero’s Journey. One of our favorite quotes from the show was, “Look at all you’ve become because you were willing to get messy.” As we allow ourselves to try things we will make mistakes, but with reflection we can be changed by the experiences.
The DELTA Studio learned all about fresh starts this week as special guests came in and introduced them to Persian New Year during Civ. It is a such a gift to learn about different cultures. Thank you!
The heroes decided it was time to do something new for P.E. and asked if they could go sledding for P.E. this week. It was a beautiful day and we had a marvelous time together!
Stemming from sledding and another experience, Jolliness the next day was focused on risk taking. Heroes were invited to practice TDS – Think about the risk/rewards of your action, Decide if it is in line with your values/worth it, Stick with your decision.
Heroes wrapped up their final Chemistry explorations with acids/bases, concentration and a Mass/Volume/Density escape room. It was awesome to watch the mentoring that took place.
Heroes who had completed the Learn portion of the dissection got to participate in the actual eye dissection. It is so fun to see the full spectrum of interest. Many heroes who don’t do the dissection come in and observe, most heroes who do the dissection are fully engaged and interested throughout the process and then a few who are really passionate stay and explore all through lunch! Heroes learned how to suture, and each practiced a surgery – I saw several cornea transplants!
One of my favorite moments of the week was totally unplanned. A Fire Studio hero came into the DELTA Studio in tears – so frustrated with math. There was not a DELTA Studio mentor scheduled for that time. However, that didn’t matter. A willing DS hero went back with the FS hero and helped her figure out her math. That was a fresh start for that younger hero for the rest of the day – and hopefully a reminder to the older hero of what an impact he can have on others.
I am grateful for the longer-term consequences (both positive and negative) that help each of us recognize that there are consequences from our choices. I am also grateful that each day can be a fresh start and a new beginning. I love March!