kites, planes and haunted houses

Check out this week’s updates…

spark studio

Let's shift our perspective: forget about the rigid confines of setting goals, and instead, let's wholeheartedly embrace the power of systems. In his illuminating book 'Atomic Habits,' James Clear eloquently argues that while goals provide a sense of direction, well-crafted systems truly propel us toward meaningful progress.

Spark has embraced this paradigm shift from the outset of this school year. We've focused firmly on the systems, the intricate processes that drive success, rather than fixating solely on the end goals. Like all great endeavors, this shift takes time, but through the magic of compound growth, we will ultimately realize our ambitions.

Every child possesses a unique gift that can change the world in profound ways, and it's important to recognize that the path to unleashing that potential varies for each individual.

In our dynamic learning environment, we've observed some learners nesting, others taking flight, and some soaring ever closer to the borders of lower elementary.

As a steadfast commitment to enriching the understanding of our learners and fostering their abilities to share with their peers and guides, we've implemented a system of assigning individual days, each accompanied by a distinct challenge. Our primary aim is to nurture our heroes' social, emotional, and cognitive development.

In this week's challenge, we embarked on a fascinating journey into the world of ants. Together, we discovered that these remarkable creatures live in colonies, craft intricate tunnels for protection, and possess an astonishing strength that defines them. Our Studio came alive with a diverse array of animals, artifacts from far-flung corners of the world, cherished family photo albums, and even a nod to Anaheim with an Angels baseball cap. These conversations sparked discussions about California and much more, thanks to the thoughtfulness behind each share. Every contribution was truly special.

We eagerly await the adventures that lie ahead as we explore the treasures of the letter "T" next week.

Also, as a reminder, if you haven’t signed up for your family share, please do so this week. We would love to get every family into the Studio at least once this session. Click this link to sign up.

The moon is stunningly bright this weekend. Grab a blanket, sit under the stars with your tribe, and soak in the beauty.

lower elementary studio

Step into the exciting world of our Lower Elementary Studio, where learning is an adventure! In Math Labs, our young heroes are discovering the joy of problem-solving. They're not just crunching numbers; they're exploring different ways to tackle math challenges. Concept Studies are their playground, where they dissect tricky problems and share their unique perspectives with the community. It's a place where being different is celebrated!

As Session 2 takes flight, our learners are soaring through the world of aviation. In Quest, they've delved deep into flight physics, unraveling Newton's 3 Laws of motion. And guess what? They've even built their own kites, parachutes, and planes! Thrust, lift, and gravity are their secret weapons.

Get ready for the Forest Flight School Exhibition held on October 4, 2023, at 4:30 to 5:45 pm where heroes will showcase their knowledge on different types of aviation and how to make US Navy planes more efficient.

In Story Arts, our heroes are assembling their Dream Teams. These are the extraordinary individuals who will be there to guide, support, and hold them accountable on their Hero's Journey. It's all about dreaming big and building a circle of champions!

And when it comes to Literacy Circles, our young readers are diving into the world of books. They're devouring two chapters a week, enhancing their reading skills and boosting their confidence. They're not just reading; they're engaging in thought-provoking discussions and sharpening their core skills with Lexia and Zern.

Our Lower Elementary Studio is a place of exploration, creativity, and growth. Stay tuned for more exciting updates as our young heroes continue their amazing learning adventures!

upper elementary studio

Welcome back to our weekly journey through the exciting world of learning in the Upper Elementary Studio. As we traveled through week 3 of our adventure, heroes have taken on an intriguing project – writing Wikipedia pages about themselves! Creating a Wikipedia page is no small feat, and it requires a range of digital skills, from research to formatting and citation. Our learners have been navigating the intricacies of Wikipedia's guidelines, ensuring that their pages are informative, well-sourced, and engaging. This experience equips them with valuable digital literacy skills that are increasingly important in our digital age.

We have been leading our learners through the fascinating world of Civilization, specifically focusing on the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The topic of this week has been the USS Maine and the Spanish-American War, two pivotal events that shaped the course of history.

Week 3 has been an exciting journey through history and self-discovery. Our learners have gained a deeper understanding of the USS Maine, the Spanish-American War, and the complexities of international relations. Additionally, their intrigue in creating Wikipedia pages about themselves has allowed them to reflect on their identities and develop essential digital skills. Stay tuned for more updates on our educational journey as our learners continue to grow and explore. We can't wait to see what Week 4 has in store for them!

middle school studio

As we continue to develop the Haunted House, we visited our event venue this week. Heroes took measurements, looked at the power source layout of the building, and walked through the space. The architects updated their floor plan to accommodate all the teams and necessary elements of the event, and the teams now have a much better vision of how the event will play out. Meanwhile, the props team took an incredible field trip to see the props storage for Trilith Studios. They handled and saw props from blockbuster movies and heard from experts about the wide variety of realistic items they house for movie-making.

Heroes continue to share their appreciation for one another during regular Shout Outs. We are focusing on different traits of the Portrait of a Graduate, such as resourcefulness, creativity, and empathy. We even gave some “Studio Maintenance Stars” Shouts Outs to celebrate those who are raising the bar on keeping the Studio tidy and welcoming. It has been a positive way to end our day, often with heroes coming home with candy or a small treat. Our fabulous parent liaison, Ms. Tricia also helped us get a comfy “birthday chair” for those with birthdays to sit in, and we are making sure to shout out what we love about the birthday person on their day during Shout Outs!

We also continue asking for feedback in the Studio through our weekly survey. We change the questions to ask about the hero's favorite activities or learning experiences, things they want Guides to know, ideas to improve certain aspects of the Studio, and more. In this session, we are focusing on providing feedback with kindness and thoughtfulness. We are also asking Middle School heroes to think of a High School hero they can shout out next week since we have been working closely together in Quest. We can’t wait for the Studios to shout out to one another next week on our Review Day next Thursday. We plan to have heroes reflect as usual and celebrate the massive work they have put into this mammoth Quest this session. Your hero won’t want to miss this special day, October 5!

high school studio

This week has been packed with activities and events, with a significant focus on our Quest project. Let's dive into the details of our week.

Our mornings have been quite eventful, thanks to some engaging launches led by our heroes and Guides. These launches set the tone for each day and helped us kickstart some remarkably productive sessions.

Now, turning our attention to Quest, our heroes have truly excelled this week. Everyone has been hard at work, whether it's our talented architects or our creative costume and wardrobe team. While we've made significant progress, there's still much work ahead of us.

The week's highlight, particularly for our Quest project, was gaining access to the Shipyard, where our haunted house will come to life. This was a pivotal moment as we could take measurements, create real-time sketches, and assign roles within the house. It's been an exciting journey watching the vision for the haunted house take shape.

In the realm of Story Arts, we've witnessed substantial benefits for our heroes on the college track. They're learning essential test-taking strategies, effective note-taking techniques, and valuable study skills. So far, The consensus is that these skills greatly enhance their preparedness for college. As a result, we've decided to continue focusing on these skills for the remainder of this session.

For our seniors, the next couple of months are critical. Priorities include preparing for practical exams, requesting and securing recommendation letters, and submitting early action applications. Admission deadlines are fast approaching, so staying updated on messages delivered through Slack is essential.

In summary, this week has been a whirlwind of activity, with significant progress made in our Quest project, valuable lessons learned in Story Arts, and a heightened sense of urgency for our seniors as they prepare for their next academic journey."

wellness review

For wellness this week we welcomed Ms. Fantasia to share with the learners from her area of expertise in physical education as well as maintaining a professional social media presence.

Ms. Fantasia talked about the importance of responsible and intentional social media usage. We were cautious in discussing the benefits of social media usage citing connectivity, community, and opportunity. We believe by acknowledging the benefits, learners may be more open to conversations about some of the dangers that exist. After sharing our honest perspective that we utilize social media and see the benefits, we moved to openly talk about the dangers in such immediate connectivity and bullying behaviors that exist in that space.

One of our middle school learners aptly shared the concept of a digital footprint and the importance of sharing intentionally and carefully. We talked about our peers sharing comments on the internet that can only be seen as vitriolic and discussed the empowerment people may feel sharing their thoughts and opinions from behind the screen and how this can lead to bullying behaviors. The concept of speaking to others on the internet only as you would face to face was encouraged. To make the message powerful, Ms. Fantasia shared unkind comments Coach Austin had received on social media… connecting this hurt to someone the learners love and care about made the message that much more impactful.

Ms. Fantasia also discussed good sportsmanship and how it relates to bullying as well as competitive environments within the Studios. Learners shared stories of their experiences in sports settings where communication has been brief and sometimes hurtful. We dissected these exchanges and brainstormed ways to communicate succinctly in those settings while also maintaining respect. The concept of debriefing afterward to clear the air was discussed and learners were eager to incorporate it in their practices. The importance of intentionally building your character and making your value systems known to your friends, workmates, and teammates in an effort to avoid confusion when communicating succinctly when necessary was imparted. If we are sure to present ourselves as we want to be received, there will be more understanding and leeway if your direct comments could be up for interpretation.

The Spark learners furthered their studies about bullying and kindness through a game of telephone. The message shared was “The red fox hid under the log from the blue elephant.” and after making its way through every hero we were left with, “He fell off the frog.” Spark heroes were guided to relate this failure in communication to talking about others and how what we might hear about someone else may not be the truth unless it comes from the source.

In Spark, we then made a circle to discuss good sportsmanship and the importance of recognizing others’ efforts and hard work. We turned to our neighbor and shook their hand while paying them a compliment about their work or effort in the Studio. To see how much it means to these smallest learners to have their efforts and good behaviors recognized and called out is truly eye-opening.

Please continue to dive into these conversations with your learners about bullying, kindness, good sportsmanship, and appropriate and intentional social media usage.

Session 2: Year 6, Week 8 In Review