check out our Quests for session 5

Wellness from Within

Our Studio is launching a thoughtful and reflective Quest focused on wellness, mindfulness, and understanding how the choices we make impact our bodies and minds.

Learners will be invited into an imaginative story where they become Tea Explorers, discovering how what we eat, drink, think, and do each day fuels our energy, focus, and overall well-being. Through this Quest, learners will begin to notice that some choices help them feel calm, strong, and joyful, while others can leave them feeling tired or unfocused.

In the narrative, learners are guided by Mariyah, the Tea Keeper, who dreams of creating the “Yea! Blend”—a comforting, kid-friendly tea designed to support calmness, happiness, and wellness. To bring this vision to life, learners will explore how natural ingredients can support balance and energy in the body, while also reflecting on the importance of rest, movement, kindness, and positive thinking.

Throughout the Quest, learners will engage in hands-on tasting, mixing, and testing, paired with reflection and discussion. They’ll learn that wellness is not just about food or drink, but about caring for the whole self—body and mind—and recognizing how internal choices shape how we show up in the world.

This Quest encourages self-awareness, intentional decision-making, and creativity, helping learners understand that wellness begins within and extends outward into daily life, relationships, and learning.

We’re excited to support our learners as they explore, reflect, and create on this meaningful journey.

Flavor Innovators: The Science of Delicious

We’re excited to share that our Studio has been invited to take on a very special (and delicious!) challenge. A local chef in our community, Chef Leigh—known for her creativity in the kitchen and her passion for sharing food with others—is launching a brand-new kids’ cooking class and has asked for our learners’ help.

Chef Leigh isn’t looking for just any recipes. She’s hoping to partner with young Food Scientists who understand not only what tastes good, but why food tastes the way it does. She has invited our Studio to become her official Junior Flavor Team, collaborating with her to design kid-approved recipes while explaining the science and chemistry behind them.

Throughout this Quest, learners will step into the role of Food Scientists—experimenting with flavors, applying chemistry concepts, and using creativity to innovate. Their work will support Chef Leigh as she launches a new offering designed to inspire and engage other young chefs in our community.

This project blends science, creativity, and real-world impact, giving learners an authentic opportunity to see how their ideas can be used beyond the studio—and possibly even featured in Chef Leigh’s future cooking classes or menu. We can’t wait to see (and taste!) what our heroes create.

The Experimental Table: Molecular Gastronomy

In this Quest, learners step into the role of junior chefs and culinary innovators as they train with The Forest School Supper Guild. A local restaurant in Trilith, Enzo, has issued an exciting challenge: they are seeking fresh, creative menu ideas that will help them stand out in a competitive dining scene and delight families and visitors with a true “wow” experience.

Inspired by experimental restaurants like Alinea in Chicago—where chefs use food chemistry and unexpected techniques to surprise guests—Enzo has asked our learners to help imagine what’s possible. Their request goes beyond great flavor. They are looking for dishes that combine creativity, precise technique, and a clear understanding of how and why the food works from both a culinary and scientific perspective.

Throughout the Quest, learners will engage in hands-on food science challenges as they explore concepts such as states of matter, chemical reactions, and accurate measurement. They’ll apply these skills during a mid-Quest Master Chef–style competition, testing ideas, receiving feedback, and refining their thinking.

Working in teams of four, learners will design and iterate on an original, Alinea-inspired dish using a chemistry-based technique—such as edible sugar glass, spherified juice orbs, or other visually striking effects. Each team will develop a repeatable recipe and be prepared to explain the science behind their creation.

The Quest culminates in a final Supper Party, where families are invited to experience learners’ dishes and hear directly from them about their design process and the science that made it possible. Along the way, visiting chefs from local restaurants will offer real-world insight and feedback, helping learners practice collaboration, iteration, and professional presentation.

This Quest blends science, creativity, teamwork, and authentic community connection—giving learners a chance to apply academic skills in a meaningful, real-world context.

Rocket Launch

In Rocket Launch, Middle Schoolers take on the role of propulsion engineers challenged to design fuel systems that can successfully propel model rockets into the air. Over six weeks, learners dive deep into the chemistry behind solid rocket fuels. They’ll learn about several types of chemistry concepts, such as oxidation reactions, combustion reactions, fuels, and catalysts. Working in collaborative R&D teams, they will make modifications to a basic formula for a stable rocket fuel and try to maximize its effectiveness. They’ll gather data, analyze reaction efficiency, and iterate based on experimental outcomes. Along the way, they apply the scientific method, balance chemical equations, practice real world geometry and reasoning, and make real-time design decisions—mirroring the work of engineers solving 21st-century space challenges. The course culminates in a Rocket Launch Challenge, where teams compete for awards like “Most Airtime”, “Most Efficient Fuel”, and “Least Destroyed Rocket”, judged by community members and STEM experts. It's a thrilling, real-world science experience built for fun, relevance, and deep learning.

Mental Matters

In this session, heroes step into the role of School Wellness Consultants serving a real user group: future high schoolers at The Forest School. They investigate what it takes to thrive as a teenager today—academically, physically, socially, and emotionally—in a world shaped by constant connectivity, social media, gaming, algorithms, and AI. The focus is preventative wellness, not a “coping as victims” frame: heroes will identify the everyday habits, routines, environmental choices, and community practices that help high schoolers stay strong, steady, and healthy before things spiral—sleep, movement, nutrition, stress management, attention and tech boundaries, relationships, purpose, and performance under pressure.

This Quest is not designed to turn high school into a therapy space, and it will not ask learners to play clinician. That is not our team’s expertise, and it’s not the aim. Instead, Forest becomes a place to explore, practice, test, and share effective wellness strategies—with research, expert input, and iterative design—so the final product is practical, credible, and usable. Their challenge is to design a mental wellness plan for future Forest high schoolers that feels real, relevant, and human. Not posters. Not platitudes. But tools, habits, and supports that build resilience, restore balance, and strengthen connection. By turning awareness into action, learners don’t just study mental health—they become part of the solution, helping to create a school culture where teens feel seen, supported, and strong enough to ask for help.

Introducing this session's Quests