Session 4, Week 4
The DELTA Studio had been missing 1 or 2 heroes all week due to sickness. As we gathered for our morning launch on Thursday, one hero made the comment “It sure makes a difference when even one hero is gone.” I jumped on this moment and asked him to repeat his comment. Whether because he was embarrassed or because he simply wanted to give me a hard time, his response was “What do you want me to repeat? That potatoes should have legs?” You gotta love middle schoolers! Whether or not he repeated his comment didn’t really matter. What mattered is that he had recognized the beautiful truth that each individual has a profound influence on their studio. As I thought back quickly over the week it was easy to see so many unique contributions that individuals made to the DELTA Studio:
A hero is working on “building an inclusive tribe,” so she is talking to, sitting by and inviting to play games, heroes that are outside of her comfort zone.
A hero took the time to type a convincing 5 paragraph paper to pitch her idea for a studio improvement.
A hero was starting a sewing Ex Work. This hero, who didn’t even know how to turn on a sewing machine, was quickly entering her panic zone. A fellow traveler – who happens to be an expert seamstress – saw this and stopped what she was doing to help set up the sewing machine and help her friend thread her first bobbin.
Two heroes overcame a fear of talking on the phone to strangers and spent 2 1/2 hours booking flights for the rest of their studio for their DS trip to California.
A hero campaigned to eat only potatoes and oatmeal on the California trip to save money. No matter how much everyone put down his idea, he stayed true to himself and his idea.
A hero stayed in at lunch to help another hero glue his wood together for his skateboard.
A dad came in and spent a morning mentoring a group of heroes in woodworking. (THANK YOU!!)
One Hero said, “We have to write 750 words??!!” and another replied, “Just keep researching and next thing you know, you will have it done.”
It was easy to see heroes’ individual contributions of creativity, designing, building, writing, editing, drawing, and painting every day during Quest.
Each DS hero has such unique gifts and talents. When they bring it all together they are hilarious:
Fun:
and do some really cool things. For example,
As part of their Quest, the DELTA Studio took a trip to meet two doctors this week. The challenge for our Heroes was to come prepared with well thought out questions for the Docs. How awesome are these questions??:
- Do you try to memorize all the conditions and diseases, or do you just research and look up the symptoms later when the patient has left?
- How long do you usually wait to make assumptions as to what patients have?
- What is the hardest part of diagnosing a patient?
- What is the most shocking injury you have seen?
- Why did you choose to become a doctor?
- Has a patient ever lied to you? If so, why?
- If you could change anything about the medical culture, what would it be?
We were all happy to hear Gabby does not have Carpel Tunnel after her ultrasound, and everyone “ooohed and awwwed” to watch her tendons shake on screen as she wiggled her fingers.
As the Heroes filed out, I stayed back to thank the two Doctors and they were so impressed. They had not expected such respectful, intelligent, and prepared learners.
We see the same beautiful influence from individuals in the Fire Studio. This week:
A hero approached the guide with a question about a computer process she had never done before. A nearby hero overheard the question and jumped right in, “I can show you how to do that” before the guide had offered any response.
During Silent Core skills time, a hero spent time away from her goals to walk her running partner through a very challenging part of Writer’s Gym.
A hero in discussion noticed there was not very much respect happening for the hero with the floor and reminded the studio about their Rules of Engagement.
A hero gave thought to our Studio Maintenance system which hasn’t been working well and wrote up a proposal for Town Hall. She led the discussion about it, took a vote, and her proposal passed.
A hero overhead that another hero was really struggling with the Origami Creator badge. Her response: “I’ll do it with you, come on!”
A hero didn’t check his friend off on a challenge because it hadn’t been done thoroughly.
A hero noticed something great and took the time to write a Gotcha.
“I can help you if you want.”
“Do you want to be in my group?”
“I know how. I’ll show you.”
These were all situations seen and heard in the Fire Studio this week, where individual chose to be problem-solvers, opted for kindness and inclusivity, and practiced the hard skill of holding their fellow-heroes accountable in order to create the studio they want. And even better, each of these moments are not rare or unique–they happen every week in the Fire Studio! Each hero brings their individual personality, with their own strengths and growth points, to the studio each day, and together this group of friends and allies builds a learning environment that grows stronger each session, each year.
The Fire Studio celebrated their halfway journey point this week, reflecting on the first stages of their individual hero’s journey and looking forward to the stages to come.
They also received new Running Partners – their special ally for the rest of the year. These individuals have a big influence on one another.
And just like in the DELTA Studio, the individuals influence shines during Quest as one hero teaches others how to knit, another hero leads outdoor challenges, another hero takes the lead in marketing, another hero excels in building and the list goes on and on.
In the Spark Studio this week a few heroes noticed another hero had missed cleaning up something from his/her lunch and initially acted resentful and determined to make that person take care of their own mess. Then understanding it was an innocent mistake, one hero exclaimed, “You guys, let’s just clean it up!” With a can-do attitude, they rallied together and seemed to be filled with satisfaction of secretly serving another. That was the influence of one individual.
One hero this week got into a funk when trying to work through something. Voices were never raised, but the regret of his unkind words was very overwhelming to him. He took some time in a peaceful corner but was not bouncing back when others tried to comfort and encourage him. Even though there were many other heroes to play with, the sadness of one hero influenced many other heroes! Since it was peace time, several heroes put their hearts into pictures and cards, and wrote sincere thoughts expressing empathy and appreciation towards him. When he received the notes, he immediately bounced back and was ready to work things out. One individual certainly influenced the studio.
Some Spark heroes contribute really fun, synergistic, and creative ideas:
Others contribute mature emotional awareness. During a launch this week one hero said “Ooo! I know what it’s called! I had an experience like this today. It’s basically jealousy.”
Still other heroes contribute a strong work ethic and are an example of enjoying setting and completing challenging goals. After completing the goals they set for the day, one hero remarked, “I just like looking at my challenging goals. It kinda makes me happy when I look at my goals.”
Sometimes as guides we don’t know specifically the individual is that is causing such great influence. For example, after the Spark Studio came back from the Fire Studio marketplace (remember they earn “money” by completing Quest challenges), not only were they excited to show the guides the wax tablets, armor, and yo-yos that they bought, but one Spark hero said, “Teenage girls are my favorite!” Thank you to that Fire Studio girl who had such a great influence!
I could fill a blog every day listing the amazing things I see your heroes do, and the way they influence their studio and school. Luckily, I don’t need to because you get to see and feel your heroes’ influence at home every day. I am so grateful for the different gifts, the distinctive personalities, and the unique contributions of each hero. We appreciate them all. We need them all. Together they create CHOICE – and “It sure makes a difference when even one hero is gone.” So take a minute today to look around you at each individual, notice their influence and repeat “potatoes should have legs!”