Session 1, Week 4
Who are your people? The people you turn to when the going gets tough. How did they become your people? That question sat at the center of every studio this week, as heroes kept discovering, in ways big and small, that a tribe is not something guides can install. It has to be built, one favor and one disagreement and one imperfect first draft at a time. Nowhere was that more visible than in the lip dub projects wrapping up across the school, projects that asked heroes to listen to each other, compromise, and sometimes start completely over for the good of the group.
IN the Spark Studio…
The Spark Studio saw that kind of tribe building show up quietly all week. One hero showed another how to complete a Montessori work, and as the second hero worked through it, the first said, “I’m so proud of you!” Two heroes had a disagreement, stepped away to cool down from high emotions, and came back together to work it out with an I-Message, entirely on their own. Heroes who don’t usually play together found their way to the same lunch table or peacetime activity and enjoyed being there. And when heroes were paired up in unlikely groups this week and challenged to write a nice note to someone they both knew, the results were amazing. Heroes talked about how good it felt to do something kind for someone else, just because.
Elsewhere in the studio, heroes practiced seeing things differently: they used their imaginations to turn ordinary items into extraordinary creations, and learned how differently animals see the world before making their own creations to view the studio in a new way. One hero climbed the big hill outside for the first time this week and felt proud all day.
In the fire studio…
The Fire Studio found the same thing true of its lip dub project this session. Ultimately, it isn’t about the finished product. It’s about who heroes are becoming along the way. Performance carries its own kind of motivation, since the camera rolls whether heroes are ready or not. One hero had a huge win this week realizing his idea was a bit too complex and needed to be simplified, and he listened well and took suggestions from the group. Another hero asked if he “really had to be in the lip dub,” and found a way to join in that felt just right for him. Still another admitted the project felt a bit stressful and not very fun, which opened up a good conversation about how fun looks different for everyone. One of the most energetic groups struggled to find its groove at first, but pulled it together with flying colors, and by the time of the final filming, the whole studio truly felt On Top of the World. Heroes finished rehearsing and recording this week, and although there were a few problems along the way, they turned those problems into opportunities and are excited to show their lip dubs at exhibition.
Freedom has been a running theme in Fire Studio all session, showing up in the contracts heroes wrote to protect their tribe’s freedom and fun, so it felt fitting to celebrate freedom at the national level this week too. Returning heroes showed new heroes around the Freedom’s Light Festival, revisiting old favorites and discovering new ones together. Heroic escapes, dangerous espionage, and courageous compromises topped many heroes’ lists of favorite exhibits, alongside rope making, candle dipping, colonial candy, and a memorable stint in the stocks. Heroes also learned from a flag maker, a soldier, and an apothecary, met costumed figures including Elizabeth Burgin and George Washington, and finished the day together on the playground. After learning firsthand about the risks colonists took to declare independence, most heroes said they would have taken the same risk to enjoy the freedom they value today.
The week also brought the studio’s first Town Hall meeting, where heroes submitted concerns and ideas and presented them for a vote or announcement, practicing how to speak up with solutions instead of just complaints. Studio maintenance came up often, games left out on the rug and lost and found items landing in the wrong place, and heroes debated whether to start a gem game for finishing their goals and whether to hold a studio meme day. One passed and the other didn’t…which one was it?
Two studio committees led high point discussions this week as well, including the hero support committee, and heroes noticed they listen more closely and feel more ownership when a fellow hero is the one leading.
Reading together has become another quiet form of tribe building: heroes can be found in the library or curled up on a rug together nearly every day during DEAR and Silent Core Skills, learning the value of staying on task, together.
Fire and Delta heroes both learned in Civ about forts and failure. After learning about the French and Indian War and debating the Proclamation Line of 1763, heroes studied George Washington’s failure at Fort Necessity. Heroes then built miniature forts out of limited supplies, aiming to hold the weight of at least a can of chili. Some groups failed on their first attempt and rebuilt until their forts held, a few pushed to see how much weight they could hold beyond the can, and several even added shooting capabilities, with straw cannons firing straw wrappers or play dough.
in the delta studio…
The DELTA Studio held a swim party at the end of the summer, and it was fun, but this Thursday night’s swim party was even better. Heroes had a blast. The pool owner was there both times, and at the end of Thursday night she said, “They sure are a lot more comfortable and connected than last time.” It was rewarding to hear that from an outsider.
So much contributes to that kind of tribe building: contract creation, trips, lunchtime games, and yes, the lip dub. The frustrations, the challenges, the laughter, the communication, the shared desire for an end product they are proud of–the lip dub really is a great tool for uniting a studio.
DELTA heroes also proved this week that they can be fully self-directed, running the studio smoothly even without a guide present for two full days. Many heroes have already started preparing for exhibition, including collecting digital images and video clips of their work with microscopes. Heroes have gotten quite good at using them, and some were able to watch live organisms swimming around in their own simulated pond water samples.
As always, heroes have also been enjoying trying out new cards in their Culture Clash card game.
house games
This week also marked the launch of House Games, a brand new way to unite the whole school. Different houses met in different parts of campus to play games together, mixing heroes from every studio. It was a first for everyone involved, and while some heroes walked in a little apprehensive about the new experience, most came away already looking forward to next time. Afterward, heroes talked through what worked and what didn’t, and studios are already planning how to build on it and keep strengthening bonds across the school.
If there’s one thing this week made clear, it’s that a tribe doesn’t form by accident. It takes contracts and Town Halls, swim parties and stocks, forts that collapse and get rebuilt, and a lip dub that asks everyone to compromise more than once. None of it is easy, and that’s the point. Heroes across every studio are proving that the people worth having in your corner are usually the ones you build something hard with.