5/4-5/10

Bees!! Tuesday during lunch Dwane Kisby brought his demonstration hive. Heroes of all ages (and the adults) were fascinated watching and asking questions about the unique way the hive functions. Seeing how long heroes stayed engaged and listening to their questions reaffirmed how much deeper learning is when the kids are in the driver’s seat. How different would it have been if I had been “lecturing” the heroes about bees and their hives??

Puppies!! Wednesday during lunch Jaclyn Mackelprang brought her litter of puppies and the heroes sat in a circle and loved on the puppies! They set a timer and when the time was up they said “pass.” Whoever had a puppy passed it on to the next hero. This went on for the full hour. They snuggled and asked questions. What a delightful opportunity to interact with life and practice sharing a limited and desired resource.

A tribe!! Thursday morning when the Spark heroes came to school they immediately asked me: “Do we get to join the big kids again?” “I had so much fun.” “I loved all the things we did.” “Can we do it again?”

Wednesday afternoon the Spark studio joined the Fire studio for quest time. Previously, each squad in the fire studio had prepared a botany related math activity, art activity, game and reading activity for two Spark heroes. While not all squads were totally prepared and not every Spark hero was totally engaged, overall it was a massive success. Even the perceived “failures” were valuable learning opportunities. For example, a Fire hero shared afterward “I had spent so much time preparing my activity. When the Spark hero didn’t want to do it I was really sad.” A conversation followed about confidence in what we do despite the reaction of others. (A life lesson I am still learning!)

It was beautiful to watch the Fire studio heroes take responsibility for and enjoy mentoring the Spark studio heroes. And awesome to see how much the Spark heroes look up to the Fire heroes. They have created community this year!

Whether it is a hive of bees, a litter of puppies or a tribe of heroes, living things are meant to be together. It is a highlight every week to watch the intricate interactions and individual learning that takes place as heroes work and play and struggle and cry and laugh in the process of creating their tribe!