Why Be Good? Why Do Good? - Year 4, Week 1
Welcome to The Forest School - Year 4!
We’re so excited to begin a whole new journey with new and returning faces alike! Learners spent their week getting to know themselves and each other, focusing on teambuilding, motivation and the “why” behind what we do.
spark studio
“Education is the key to unlocking the world, a passport to freedom” Oprah Winfrey
Our first week is in the books. We have been having so much fun learning to learn, learning to be, learning to do and learning to live together.
Thoughts about school from a few of our Spark heroes:
“It is fun to learn and grow”
“It feels fun to go to school”
“School is very important and helpful for you”
“School is a place where we share love and kindness to others”
“Why is school so much fun everyday?”
“School is fun because you learn how to live together”
“School is important because if you don’t have school you won’t learn and school is really fun”
“Friends are amazing because you get to learn about them and they help you”
“School is fun because we make new friends and live with them”
“My favorite thing about school is I get to be here and we get to do new experiments, play games, and have fun”.
elementary studio
What are you passionate about?
This week learners engaged in a variety of team building activities as they journeyed to get to know their fellow travelers and finding their individual passions! As a team, they collaborated to save the Head of School, Tyler Thigpen, from being captured by aliens! Hero’s had to demonstrate perseverance and great collaborative skills to get the job done! Thankfully, the aliens were no match for the resilient learners!
Heroes also spent time learning about the Hero’s Journey and how it relates to their life. This provided an opportunity for new hero’s to connect on a deeper level with other heroes. They were able to share their personal stories and provide quality feedback and mentorship for others.
While learning about the Hero’s Journey, heroes also discovered their passions! Hero’s are excited to take a deep dive into their passions and begin Week 2 of their Quest, Forest Got Talent!
middle school studio
What a week!
Middle School learners spent most of the week getting to know each other through various team building activities. Our top priority is that each and every learner feels a strong sense of belonging in the Studio. So, we start with a lot of identity work (Who am I?) and a lot of culture building (Who are we?) to create a place where truly everyone feels plugged in and connected.
Part of that work included lots of creative projects! Learners worked individually to complete varied creative writing projects and in teams to create silent films. They practiced how to present their work to others, receive feedback, and revise.
We also took our first steps at creating our Studio contracts. Learners worked in a scaffolded process - first creating their own individual rules, then in groups to create a proposal to submit to the whole Studio, then the whole group voted on which rules will be in place next week and the consequence tree for breaking the rules. Self-governance in action.
So, Week 1 was all about building. Building a team, building a culture, building trust, and building systems.
On Monday, we will keep building on the foundations laid this week.
high school studio
Who’s ready for a great adventure?
This week in high school has been one of the best! On average the heroes rated the entire week and 8 out of 10. Our theme for this week was intentionality. With new heroes joining the Studio we want to ensure that they have a great understanding of what it means to be a hero at The Forest School. This week we dissected and broke down what a badge plan is including Storytelling, Quest, Apprenticeships, Deep Books, and all things before school.
Heroes launched into the session's Quest with a game of Jeopardy, answering all of life’s big questions all while connecting everything to the hero’s journey!
Jennifer Lee once stated, “Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire”. This session we will see what sets the heroes' souls on fire as we prepare for Session 1 exhibition!
-Onward
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