Week 17: 1/12-1/18
From the Spark Studio
From Nina: This week we learned about my favorite subject, the brain. The heroes enjoyed exploring the books and videos I shared. Learning about the brain gives us tools to regulate emotions and make better choices, rather than becoming upset.
One of my highlights, after talking about how kindness and connections affect the brain, we became “secret heroes.” The heroes drew a name and committed to find an opportunity to help that friend. The heroes enjoyed serving each other and enjoyed guessing who their secret hero was. They loved it so much they asked to do it again.
We worked on engagement in the studio and also had a blast this week with an additional tractor tire!
From the Elementary Studio
From Kara: An entrepreneur or innovator has to be able to tolerate ambiguity. The challenges in the quest this session present plenty of ambiguity to tolerate, and it’s amazing to see the heroes persist through frustrations, setbacks, and unknowns. They are figuring out how physical forces interact and how to harness power from those forces!
From JeVonne: Our amazing brains are built to protect us. When we experience uncomfortable emotions, our natural instincts trigger us to fight or flight. Watching the heroes struggle this week with extremely difficult quest challenges was so interesting. Some heroes dug in and fought while others preferred the “flight” option. Our discussion afterwards about teamwork was enlightening. A highlight for me was watching the heroes take accountability and recognize what they can each do to improve in their role on their team. I am grateful we have more time to dig into teamwork and develop some grit!
Our amazing brains also feel good when they stretch. In response to this session’s “what I want my parents to know about CHOICE…” was my highlight: “That it feels good to work hard.” This response came after our most focused day of core skills ever. During Core Skills each hero was challenged to do one thing to conquer their monster (Mr. Resistance, Mrs. Distraction, or Mr. and Mrs. Victim). The result of this challenge was astounding; we had more flow in one day than we had in a month! The heroes themselves recognized it and commented how hard the entire studio worked. It felt good to celebrate hard work. I have full confidence we are just at the beginning of this kind of celebration.
Check out this flow!
And judging by this week, our heroes’ brains also feel good when they laugh! Between their full body soaking in Phoenician boat racing during Civilization, to their impromptu “backwards” day and air guitar solos, laughing with the heroes was another highlight this week.
I’m excited to see what these great minds will do next week!