Snowflakes, Milestones, and Vision Boards: Highlights from an Inspiring session

spark studio

Family Treasures

What a beautiful year thus far. We are grateful for each and every one of you and look forward to what lies ahead.

As we step into the new year, it's a perfect time to reflect on our aspirations and set a clear vision for the future. This is a fresh start—an opportunity to outline our goals, both big and small, and focus on the steps we can take to turn them into reality. By creating vision boards, we can visualize our dreams and stay motivated as we work toward them. When we return next year, let's share our progress, celebrate our achievements, and support each other in continuing to pursue our passions. Together, we can make the coming year a year of growth and success.

Steps to Complete the Challenge

Think About Your Year Ahead:
What are some things you'd love to do, learn, or achieve next year?
Examples: Learn to ride a bike, read a new book, make a new friend, travel somewhere fun, or try a new activity.
Gather Materials:
- A piece of cardboard or paper for the base.
- Old magazines, newspapers, or printed images.
- Scissors, glue, markers, crayons, and stickers for decorating.
Choose Your Pictures and Words:
- Look through magazines or draw pictures that show your dreams and goals.
- Cut out pictures or words that make you feel excited or happy about your plans.
Create Your Vision Board:
- Arrange your pictures and words on your board.
- Glue them down, decorate, and add your name at the top!
Share Your Vision Board:
- Show your vision board to friends, family, or your class.
- Tell them about the things you’re looking forward to and how you plan to achieve them.

Challenge Guidelines:

Keep your dreams fun, exciting, and meaningful to YOU!
Use bright colors and creative designs to make your board unique.
Be ready to talk about your favorite part of your vision board during show-and-tell.

Why It’s Important:
This activity helps you imagine your future, set goals, and get excited about what’s ahead. Plus, it’s a great way to practice creativity and focus on things that make you happy!

Bonus Challenge: Add a Kindness Goal to your vision board—something you can do to help others, like sharing toys, helping clean up, or making a new friend.

Also side note: Spark is in need of used legos for a building project we will be working on next session.

You’ve got this! Let’s make 2025 amazing! 🎉

lower elementary studio

Dear Parents,

This week has been filled with exciting winter fun! Our learners showcased their collaboration skills in the Puzzle Room during the exhibition and reflected on their experiences by crafting unique snowflakes—each cut symbolizing something special from their time in the Studio.

We are incredibly proud of the hard work they’ve put into their SLEs and core skills. To celebrate their progress, we held a badge ceremony and had a blast making snowball slime!

Thank you for your continued support as we celebrate their growth and achievements from this year so far! Also, if you would like a new tune to sing in the car, please listen to the attached song, "Calvin is a Fat Cat," created by our learners with the help of Keith Williams Jr.

Warm wishes,
Lower ES Team

upper elementary studio

Session 4 has officially come to an end!

Thank you to all the families, friends, and Dream Team members who came to support our learners at the Collaboration Exhibition. The heroes tackled challenging puzzles and shared their goals and hopes with their Dream Teams.

Our Upper Elementary learners have become master puzzlers and experts in ancient writing systems, solving riddles, ciphers, and uncovering secrets from civilizations past. It’s incredible to see how far they've come, and we’re so proud of their hard work, creativity, and teamwork!

Virtual Learning Day
For our virtual learning day, learners are invited to share their Mid-Action Review Presentations with their families and/or Dream Teams. This reflective activity encouraged learners to take stock of their progress and articulate their achievements and next steps. Listeners are also encouraged to complete the survey to provide valuable feedback for improvement.

We’re eagerly looking forward to our next Quest, where our heroes will put on their gloves, step into the world of problem-solving, and learn how to care for those who can’t speak for themselves. What could that mean? We can’t wait to explore it together!

Have a wonderful break, Happy Holidays, and a fantastic New Year! See you in Session 5!

middle school studio

As we close out the year, our learners have been hard at work wrapping up a range of exciting challenges and activities, showcasing their growth and creativity. Here’s a snapshot of what we accomplished together during these final weeks.

Polishing Professional Tools
Learners put the finishing touches on their cover letters and resumes, incorporating valuable feedback they received. These polished documents were then shared with their Dream Teams, a key part of their journey toward personal and professional development. The experience provided learners with constructive insights and a sense of accomplishment as they prepared for the next steps in their goals.

Diving Into History
In Civ, we wrapped up our last session of the calendar year by brainstorming and exploring new ideas. Learners delved into topics they are eager to investigate next session, particularly focusing on the prehistoric era. These discussions sparked curiosity and set the stage for an engaging start to the upcoming term.

Apprenticeship / Practical Exhibition
A highlight of our activities was hosting the Apprenticeship / Practical Exhibition. Guests and Dream Teams joined us to evaluate learners’ resourcefulness through an impromptu Elevator Pitch to apprenticeship hosts. Learners also participated in a surprise group STEM challenge, where their ability to think on their feet and collaborate was put to the test. Feedback from parents and experts was invaluable, and learners took time the following day to reflect on these insights, furthering their personal growth.

Holiday Festivities
To celebrate the season, the Party Committee organized a festive holiday party complete with pizza and treats. This joyful event brought our community together, offering a chance to unwind and connect after a busy period.

Celebrating Achievements
The Badge Ceremony marked a significant moment as we celebrated all the badges earned at this halfway point of the year. Learners also received additional time to gain peer approvals and submit their badges before the holiday break, ensuring everyone had the opportunity to showcase their accomplishments.

Creative Recognitions
A special congratulations goes to Maddy for being selected as the Anime Art winner from our in-studio contest! We’re excited to announce the writing winner soon, celebrating the incredible creativity within our community.

Virtual Learning Day
For our virtual learning day, learners are invited to share their Mid-Action Review Presentations with their families and/or Dream Teams. This reflective activity encouraged learners to take stock of their progress and articulate their achievements and next steps. Listeners are also encouraged to complete the survey to provide valuable feedback for improvement.

This season’s activities have exemplified the hard work, creativity, and resilience of our learners. As we head into the break, we’re grateful for the growth we’ve witnessed and look forward to what the next term will bring. Happy holidays to all!

high school studio

This week, our Studio celebrated a major milestone as we wrapped up our Quest with an incredible Exhibition! This Exhibition showcased weeks of hard work, creativity, and collaboration—and it was inspiring to see how our learning and partnerships with the Trilith Foundation and field experts came to life. I really hope parents fully enjoyed and appreciated the growth that their heroes displayed, from their energy to their attentiveness.

We ended the session with thoughtful reflections on the entire process. Heroes evaluated their performances on deliverables, revisited the rules of engagement and how they have been showing up in the Studio, and discussed the lessons they’ll carry forward into the next session. This reflection highlighted their growth and resilience throughout this session.

As we look ahead, we’re excited to continue this meaningful work with the Trilith Foundation and take on new challenges. This has been a transformative journey, and we can’t wait to see what’s next.

Wishing everyone a joyful holiday season. Merry Christmas, and stay tuned for more updates as the adventure continues!

Session 4: Year 7, WeeK 20 In Review