Session 3: Year 8, WeeK 11 In Review
Badges, Brands, and Beyond: How Learning Comes to Life
spark studio
Our Learning Journey Takes Flight
What an exciting week it has been in Spark! Our learning journey has truly begun, and it feels like we’ve set flight on a grand adventure, soaring from island to island, discovering what it takes to earn our badges. Each island brings new challenges, fresh ideas, and plenty of opportunities to grow. Learning can be tricky at times, but we’re realizing that the best journeys often are! With teamwork, curiosity, and a sense of wonder, we’re finding that every challenge turns into fun.
This week, we also dove into meaningful conversations about money, coins, and their value. We explored the difference between needs and wants and talked about how we use money in our daily lives. These discussions helped us think not only about the value of money but also the value of the friendships we’ve built along the way, reminding us that some of life’s most important treasures can’t be bought.
This week also brought some bittersweet moments as we said farewell to our dear friends Auggie and Elliott, who are off to explore a new adventure in The Netherlands. The Forest won’t be quite the same without them, but our hearts are full knowing that their journey continues across the sea. We’ve already decided to become pen pals so we can stay connected and hear all about their discoveries in Europe!
As the seasons shift and the air grows colder, please remember to send an extra set of warm clothes for your Spark explorers. Adventures are always better when we’re cozy and comfortable!
Here’s to another week of curiosity, courage, and connection as we continue to explore, learn, and grow together in Spark!
lower elementary studio
“Caring About Others”
Welcome to week two, Lower Elementary families and heroes! We’re so glad to be digging in deeper to a new session together—one full of curiosity, creativity, and connection.
The week began with an exciting Quest guest, Ivana Ramos, who shared her story and her “why” for creating and using eco-friendly products. In the Studio, learners have stepped into their roles as chemist entrepreneurs, exploring how to use chemistry to create eco-friendly cleansers that are safe for people and the planet. Each team will design, test, and market their own product—and the winning team will earn a paid entry to the Children’s Business Fair, where they’ll have the chance to share their creations with the wider community.
To complement this work, Story Arts has turned its focus to Marketing and Storytelling through Branding. This week, we built upon the knowledge shared with us by marketing expert Alexis Moon, who explained how great storytelling brings a brand to life—helping people connect to its purpose and meaning. Learners are already exploring how to shape their brand stories around their chemistry creations, thinking deeply about audience, emotion, and voice.
In Civilization, we’ve continued to travel through the Renaissance, discovering how its ideas and inventions still influence our world today. We’re looking closely at the question that grounds our year’s work:
“How is the world changing, and how can I grow myself up in it?”
This session, our shared focus is Caring About Others. We’ve already begun thoughtful conversations about how we handle conflict, listen with empathy, and care for our community.
In Core Skills, math continues to challenge and stretch learners as they take on more complex ideas, while language work dives deeper into the art of creating a sentence—and then another, and another—to build clarity, rhythm, and meaning in writing.
Inventure Lab projects are beginning to take shape, and excitement is growing as we prepare for our first Learner-Led Conferences of the year. (Please be sure to sign up using the link sent to your email!)
It’s been another full and inspiring week of Session Three—one that reminds us how learning, at its best, grows from curiosity, care, and the courage to try new things together.
upper elementary studio
Exploring the World’s Water and Building Studio Leaders
This week in Quest, our learners dove deep—literally—into the challenges of water around the world. They rotated through seven learning stations to read and watch stories about global water issues, including drought in South Africa, arsenic in the groundwater in Bangladesh, lead in the water in Flint, Michigan, and the growing problem of microplastics in our oceans. These powerful stories gave us perspective on what clean water means and why it matters everywhere.
We brought our new knowledge to our expert guests on Thursday from Clear Water Solutions, who taught us how our own municipal water filtration system works. Learners asked insightful questions to uncover what our system removes, what it adds, and what might still remain in the tap water. Huge thanks to Melvin Jackson and his partner for sharing their expertise and answering every tough question with patience and detail!
In Civ, we continued our exploration of early Islam. Learners played a lively quiz game to test their understanding of Islamic culture and traditions—guessing, for instance, which day Muslims gather for worship and how many times they pray each day. Hadrian also shared some of his experiences from living in Jordan, giving a live demonstration of what classical Arabic sounds like. A few learners were so intrigued that we now have a “Word of the Day” section on the board featuring vocabulary in Spanish, French, Arabic, English, and even Elin’s own ConLang (constructed language)!
In Story Arts, learners continued developing their leadership-themed comic books. They’re designing characters and planning stories that explore what true leadership looks like. Some have already started sketching out their first panels—creativity is flowing across the Studio!
Other exciting updates:
We elected a new Studio Council—congratulations to Elin, Conoly, Kosey, Wyatt, and Ana! Ana won the final seat after a close run-off with Autumn. The council’s first task was to plan our upcoming Halloween party, but they’ve already jumped into their leadership roles, helping mediate Studio challenges with maturity and fairness.
Finally, a big shoutout to Sam, one of our high schoolers, who stopped by to test and approve the scents Upper Elementary created for the Haunted House. It was so cool for our learners to collaborate with the older Studio and contribute to the epic experience they’re building this session!
middle school studio
Important Reminder:
Hero-led Conferences are next Tuesday, November 4th. School will not be in session, but heroes will come in to lead their individual conferences.
Quest: Chemistry in Action
This week, Middle School heroes took their next big step toward the Children’s Business Fair! After receiving expert feedback last Friday on their early product ideas, they rolled up their sleeves for their first official chemistry lab of the year—complete with lab reports and application to their products.
Using their new knowledge, heroes crafted their first product prototypes, ranging from soothing fragrances and specialty slimes to vibrant bath bombs and scrubs. Through experimentation, they began learning how science, creativity, and entrepreneurship collide in product development.
Civilization: Charlemagne—Great Ruler or Ruthless Conqueror?
In Civilization, heroes dove deep into the legacy of Charlemagne (“Charles the Great”), a figure often credited with uniting Medieval Europe and sparking a period of cultural revival known as the Carolingian Renaissance.
After exploring articles about his educational reforms and artistic achievements, heroes created presentations highlighting the cultural and intellectual accomplishments of this era—examining how art, literature, and learning flourished under his reign.
But the discussion didn’t end there. After reading about the massacre at Verden, heroes were challenged to grapple with moral complexity: Can cultural and economic progress ever justify oppression or violence? Their reflections led to rich discussions about ethics, leadership, and the human cost of “greatness.”
Story Arts: Building a Brand Story
Meanwhile, in Story Arts, heroes explored how storytelling and design work together to shape brand identity. Each hero designed a digital mood board in Canva, curating colors, fonts, and images that represent their business’s personality and mission.
This exercise encouraged them to think deeply about how visuals can communicate emotion, purpose, and story. In their reflections, heroes shared what they learned about design, storytelling, and the art of making a brand feel alive.
high school studio
A Week of Creativity, Collaboration, and Celebration!
This week has been one for the books! From the moment the week began, our students and staff dove headfirst into transforming our space for the much-anticipated Haunted House event—and we finished with a bang Thursday night! The turnout was incredible, the energy was high, and most importantly, everyone left safe, smiling, and proud of what they helped create.
Throughout the week, our students honed in on some essential life and career-ready skills. They learned how to collaborate effectively, communicate clearly, and show genuine empathy toward one another—especially as the days grew longer and the build got more demanding. Constructing the Haunted House wasn’t just about decoration; it was a real-time lesson in endurance, problem-solving, and resourcefulness. When materials ran low or plans shifted, our students made it work—together.
In the midst of all the excitement, we also carved out time for a meeting about an amazing opportunity to travel abroad—an experience that promises to broaden our students’ global perspective and inspire new dreams. Meanwhile, our seniors are charging ahead with their early action college applications, showing great focus and determination as they take their next big steps toward the future.
Overall, this week reflected the spirit of our school community perfectly: creative, committed, and full of heart. As we close out this festive week, we’re celebrating not just Halloween, but the growth, teamwork, and resilience that made it all possible.