Session 3: Year 6, Week 10 In Review
ice cream, rockets and dental health
Check out this week’s updates…
spark studio
As we reflect on this week, we've explored the beautiful facets of empathy, sympathy, and the spirit of giving.
The week kicked off with a deep dive into the concept of empathy. We examined how empathy involves understanding and sharing the feelings of others, fostering connections and compassion. Stories of empathy in action, from neighbors helping neighbors to strangers extending a hand, reminded us of the profound impact of this human quality.
Then, our focus shifted to sympathy - a kindred emotion to empathy. We delved into how sympathy is about acknowledging the suffering of others, expressing support, and showing kindness. The discussion underscored the importance of sympathetic gestures in building a supportive community and promoting mental and emotional well-being. The learners used their wellness journals to draw their very own support teams.
Midweek, we celebrated the spirit of giving. Whether through acts of kindness, charity, or volunteer work, generosity can bring joy and fulfillment to both the giver and the receiver. We shared heartwarming stories of people giving back to their communities and making the world better through selflessness.
A challenge sparked, and we invite you to join us and give back. We will begin a food drive to support our local food banks starting next week and continuing through the session.
On a closing note, conferences will begin next week, and we look forward to sitting down with each of you and getting to know you a bit more. Please use the link below to sign up for a time.
Lower elementary studio
“To Infinity and Beyond!” - Buzz Lightyear
Over the next few weeks, our young heroes will become Space Rangers and plan a “Mission to Mars.” During the planning stages of this mission, our Space Ranger TEAMS will learn everything they need to know to prepare for such a mission, gaining knowledge and skills to embark on our imaginary journey. This quest will be full of exciting challenges and teamwork, allowing our learners to think like real astronauts and scientists.
This first week began with a mission briefing that also had the Space Ranger TEAMs choosing a name for their team and learning what their role on that TEAM will be: Captain, Navigator, Scientist, Engineer, or Communications Specialist. The remainder of Quest this week was spent attending class, Rocketry 101 to be precise, learning all about the history of rockets, how they work, and even about some famous rocket scientists. The heroes were then able to test out their new-found rocket knowledge by building small rockets of their own and then testing them outside. It was a blast!
In Civilization, we entered into a new century this session and will be learning about world events between 1900-1920. This week, we delved into the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and discovered how this event led to significant changes to labor laws, worker’s rights, and safety regulations in factories and other work environments. Then, we set sail on the grand ocean liner, the Titanic, as we investigated its ill-fated voyage and the lessons it offers on technology, class distinction, and human courage.
This session in Story Arts, the Elementary Studio, is diving into the fascinating world of reality shows! Our budding storytellers will explore the exciting, dramatic, and sometimes hilarious world of real-life TV entertainment, and they will also get the chance to put on their creative hats and collaborate on producing their very own reality show entitled “The Real Heroes of the Forest School.” This will allow others to experience the unique and extraordinary adventures of our Studio by highlighting our daily routines, special moments, and the talents and personalities of our Forest School heroes.
We invite you to follow along with us on Journey Tracker at www.journey.actonacademy.org. Log-in information for Journey Tracker and all Core Skill platforms (Lexia Reading, Zearn Math, and Xtra Math) were sent home before the session two break. You can find daily assignments, samples of the hero’s work, badge information, and more on Journey Tracker. It is a wonderful tool to help parents and families keep track of what their learner is doing at school and their progress. We hope you will take a few moments each week to sit down with your child and go through their Journey Tracker as a family.
Until next time, keep reaching for the stars!
Sign up for parent conferences here.
upper elementary studio
As we journey through the fascinating world of knowledge and exploration, we've embarked on a thrilling adventure, connecting the dots between seemingly unrelated topics.
This week in Civ, we've explored the historical lessons of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and the Titanic, delving into the stark differences in treatment between various financial classes. These two seemingly distinct events share an underlying theme: class disparity. As learners, it's essential to understand that history is not just a sequence of dates and facts; it's a narrative of people's lives, struggles, and the impact of social, economic, and political forces.
Additionally, we dove into the history of rockets, understanding their components and the physics properties that make them soar through the skies. But what's most exciting is that by the end of this session, we'll combine this knowledge to create our very own rockets! Rockets are intricate machines that rely on propulsion, aerodynamics, and engineering principles.
As we progress in our rocketry lessons, we'll dive deeper into the mechanics and physics that enable rockets to break free from Earth's gravity and travel into space! We hope the learners embrace this opportunity to create their own rockets, and we can't wait to see the fruits of their knowledge and imagination!
Sign up for parent conferences here.
middle school studio
Session Three, Week One
As the leaves become golden and sweaters emerge, a new season in the Middle School unfolds. We have one week remaining till the long-awaited Haunted House. Relationships continue to deepen as we practice relating to one another, and we are looking ahead with anticipation at the newness this season brings.
Heroes have had some unique opportunities this week, including a Gelato Social with a new private school in the area, a bake sale within our Studio, and three visits from experts!
Our Gelato Social allowed heroes an opportunity to mix and mingle with others their age, chat with the president of Trilith, laugh with some icebreakers, and, of course, enjoy gelato from our beloved Honeysuckle Gelato.
A few heroes within our Studio are also working to create a more welcoming eating space for us to enjoy, so they are doing a small bake sale within our Studio this week to put towards their plan! Seeing their designs and initiative is fun as they create an even more personalized Studio space for each other.
Additionally, the actors of our Haunt received some special coaching this week from three professional actors, Dom Kegel, Cocoa Brown, and Wynn Everett. They enjoyed acting and improv exercises, got scaring tips, had discussions on character motivation, and much, much more. Heroes were thrilled to chat with them, hear about their impressive experience, and learn from their expertise. There might have been a little geeking out, too.
As we look ahead, we took some time to discuss the calendar for the rest of Session Two, including some dates for parents to note. Picture day is October 25th, Exhibition is October 28th, and hero-led conferences will be held for the Middle School on October 30th through November 1st (in person or virtual.) We will also have two specific weeks in which we encourage heroes to get their Apprenticeship hours: the week of October 30th and the week of November thirteenth. In between those two weeks (November sixth through the tenth) is Practicals week, and attendance is required. After all the activity, heroes will enjoy a well-deserved break starting November seventeenth.
Sign up for parent conferences here.
high school studio
It's been an exciting and productive week at school! We've been fully immersed in our Quest project, bringing our haunted house to life. The creativity and teamwork on display have been exceptional, and it's shaping up to be an unforgettable experience.
In Story Arts, our learning journey has been equally enriching. We've delved into crucial skills like note-taking, test-taking strategies, and study techniques, equipping us with valuable tools for academic success. It's clear that these skills will serve us well in our educational pursuits.
Moreover, this week, we ventured into the captivating world of fear and its impact on civilizations. Exploring the dynamics of fear in history has been eye-opening, giving us a deeper understanding of its influence on societies throughout time.
All in all, it's been a week of growth, creativity, and expanding our knowledge, making our school experience both memorable and rewarding.
Sign up for parent conferences here.
wellness review
For wellness, this session, we have shifted our studies to a topic that has become increasingly important in our world for adults and children alike: Mental Health. After our conversations surrounding bullying and the impact different scenarios can have on our blueprints, we felt this was a natural transition and an important area to dedicate our focus to this session.
High school and middle school learners hosted an open conversation about mental health… what it looks and feels like, and its impact on our day-to-day lives. Learners identified feelings of anxiety, depression, stress, and overwhelm and connected physical symptoms to the experiences with their mental health. The impact of our mental health on our perception of self and perception of our world was identified. We openly discussed the value of counseling and identifying coping mechanisms and compared the concept to visiting a dentist: if you wait to visit with a dentist until you have a decaying cavity, it may be a far more painful, lengthy experience to return to baseline health. If you began your visits when you noticed symptoms of plaque or swollen gums, it may be a less tumultuous experience. And if you implement visits before any negative symptoms are noted, you may find yourself more easily maintaining your baseline. Several learners shared their experiences openly, and we all worked to identify coping mechanisms that might be useful: exercise, fresh air, journaling, drawing, playing music, etc. We then practiced a guided relaxation before journaling with the goal of identifying our support team: parents, friends, coaches…, and anyone you feel safe and comfortable opening up to.
Upper elementary, lower elementary, and spark learners discussed their understanding of mental health and spoke extensively about the importance of identifying our support teams. We explored the idea that even with healthy coping mechanisms identified and employed, we sometimes might still have very “heavy” feelings and that with a healthy support team in place, we can talk through these feelings before they feel too heavy to sort through. We journaled with the older learners, listing their support team and coping mechanisms they find helpful, and the youngest learners drew a colorful picture of their support team. Learners throughout the school aptly connected the concepts of bullying and the impact it has on our mental health.
Continue these conversations at home, encouraging your learners to speak openly with their support teams and maybe share your experiences with mental health and some coping mechanisms that you feel work for you!