Y7, Session 1, Week 1
CHOICE heroes and guides are glad to be back! CHOICE feels alive when it’s full of heroes. Old friendships picked right back up where they left off, and brand new ones started forming within the first few days. The excitement was tangible! But this week wasn’t only about reunions. It was about laying a foundation, because alongside the fun came a question heroes will be exploring all session long: When do heroes follow the rules? As you’ll see below, they’re discovering that rules, and the contracts and promises that come with them, aren’t about denial and punishment. They’re actually what make freedom, friendship, and fun possible.
IN the spark studio
The Spark Studio spent the week getting to know one another, one game and one Montessori work at a time. Heroes explored the materials in the studio, tested out playing with new friends, and started discovering who shares their interests (and who doesn’t). Likes and dislikes were uncovered, new friendships were sparked, and by the end of the week it was clear that a happy, healthy studio needs a foundation of kindness and respect, truth and integrity, hard work and grit, and careful stewardship.
Heroes also learned the fine art of proper handwashing from the one and only Captain Bubbles, and a hero stepped in to help a fellow hero down from the tree, even though they’d only just met.
Spark heroes have already begun deciding together how they want to care for their studio this year, and we can’t wait to see what they come up with!
The idea of rules was introduced with games. Have you ever played a game and someone keeps changing the rules? It’s not fun anymore. When everyone agrees to the same rules it’s way more fun!
In the Fire Studio
The Fire Studio watched something special happen this week: Spark heroes becoming Fire heroes, and new-to-CHOICE strangers becoming friends. A veteran hero even welcomed everyone with a hand drawn sign on the studio whiteboard.
Heroes played and worked together to start building the studio they imagined in their Summer P.I.E. Challenge, a dream list full of conditions for kind relationships, creativity, and focus. They also shared some of their own personal dreams and talked about how each of them can contribute to the studio this year. That dream studio will be a work in progress all session long, as heroes practice communicating, setting boundaries, living within them, and holding each other accountable to their promises.
That kind of work doesn’t come easily, for young heroes or grown ones, and this week had its share of confusion and a few tears as heroes felt out what it’s like before all the rules are fully in place. But Fire heroes are more than up for the challenge, and having fun together came easily the whole time.
Between rounds of cup stacking (an instant favorite), the blanket name game, and blob tag, heroes talked about Love Languages, decorated boxes for their supplies, and read stories together.
Stone Soup helped them discuss the importance of each person’s contributions and even make a batch of soup of their own. And The Emperor’s New Clothes sparked a great conversation about how important it is to speak up when something seems off, which is exactly where this session’s question comes in: When do heroes follow the rules? This week’s answer came less from talk of punishment and more from realizing how every choice, kept or broken, shapes the tribe and culture heroes are building together. It was a week of hard and fun in equal measure, tears and frustration alongside laughter and discovery, and it set the stage for heroes to fully buy into a system that will be entirely their own.
In the delta studio
The DELTA Studio came back with high energy, plenty of courage, and a whole lot of heart. Heroes who hadn’t seen each other all summer reunited with excitement, while heroes new to the studio, and new to CHOICE altogether, stepped bravely into an unfamiliar place and got to work figuring it out. DELTA heroes welcomed every hero in the school into the gym and led their houses in games…
…explored what it looks like when everyone is chasing a different goal…
…versus a shared one…
…and spent time looking at their dreams for the studio this year.
They earned pizza and pie for finishing their challenges, and talked about how every hero’s contribution makes a difference in the studio, then sat down to a shared pot of soup to prove it.
Heroes explored all six of their studio promises: 200% Accountability
Using My Freedom to Work Hard and Grow
Mentoring Others
Seeking and Developing My Callings and Gifts, Respect for our Studio and our Tribe…
…and Building an Inclusive Tribe.
They also talked about protecting their culture by loving themselves and each other more: learning who they are, building a circle rather than a hierarchy, and figuring out what kind of humor they want in their studio this year.
And, of course, there were games: water bomb ultimate frisbee, volleyball, territory dodgeball, and a few rounds of statues.
Underneath all of the fun was the quiet, hard work of building a contract together, full of conversations and discussion. That kind of work doesn’t happen without some real growth, and this week’s mix of courage, hard conversations, and joy is exactly what will carry the studio through the rest of the session.
Coming back to CHOICE means coming back to relationships and working together. Building a culture worth having takes both a lot of fun and a lot of grit. This week there were tears and frustration alongside the games and laughter, and that’s not a sign of anything going wrong. It’s exactly what growth looks like in week one. Heroes across every studio are discovering that rules aren’t there to hold them back. They’re what will make room for real freedom, real friendship, and real fun. We can’t wait to see what our 2026-27 CHOICE heroes build!