Embracing life and facing death—Year 2 Week 18 in Review
What a great week! Learn more below…
Middle School Update
This week, we launched our Apprenticeship Quest. Each middle school learner will develop a list of apprenticeships to explore, research those opportunities in depth, craft and send their own pitches to those employers, secure an apprenticeship, and then complete it by logging at least 40 hours on the job (to take place the week of Feb 3-7, 2020).
At the end of the apprenticeship, learners will request the following feedback from employers:
"Would you please evaluate my performance while working for you? (Please be as frank as possible as this will not affect my grade)
On a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the highest score, how likely would you be to hire me for a paying position or recommend me to someone else? Why?
Please feel free to expand on my strengths as weaknesses as I really would like to improve my performance.
Finally, would you be willing to write a short letter of recommendation I could use for my next apprenticeship?"
It's cool to think that over the course of three years in the Middle School Studio, a learner will get a chance to spend 120 hours outside of the school walls, learning by doing a real job for a real person in the real world. On top of that, they could have at least three letters of recommendation to their name—all before they leave the 8th grade.
Elementary Update
“Curiosity…It keeps us moving forward, exploring, experimenting, opening new doors”. -Walt Disney
It's no secret that curiosity makes learning more effective and enjoyable. Instilling students with a strong desire to know or learn something is what every educator lives for, and research has even shown that curiosity is just as important as intelligence in determining how well learners do in school.
At The Forest School, one of our core graduate aims is Leaning To Be, which includes curiosity. Through our daily Socratic launches, Civilization challenges, Storytelling Workshops, and Quests, heroes are introduced to ideas they may not have been familiar with and are challenged to think deeply and explore those topics together and individually.
This session, heroes are exploring the world of detective science and, in doing so, practicing using the scientific method. They have the opportunity to not only engage in forensics and biology, but also to learn the process that one must take when uncovering the very thing they are curious about. Many times this means trial and error, testing and retesting, and doing things that seem impossible.
Curiosity inspires the idea in a young learner's mind that impossible = I’m Possible! Our elementary heroes will be the future change makers of our world, and it all starts right here.
High School Update
"Life and death are illusions. We are in a constant state of transformation." -Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
What does it truly mean to live and full life and what happens when you pass away? This session, heroes jumped into the Embracing Life and Facing Death Quest, in which they began to develop plans for their Murder Mystery Dinner. Hold on to your seats and be prepared for an experience you’ll never forget.
Steve Marble once stated, “The most powerful relationship one will have in this life is the relationship with themselves." To begin this Quest, heroes created self-care plans that focused on self development, productivity, health and wellness, and relationships. In addition, heroes identified and learned about individuals in their age group who truly embrace life. At home we encourage you to have dinner conversations about life and death, searching together for deep meaning.Other quick hits:
The high school welcomed a new learner to the Studio...we now have 12 high school heroes!
As the reality (for some) of college approaches, heroes took off on a college tour to Oglethorpe University.
Our Civilization discussions never cease to amaze—This session, heroes will navigate through topics including terrorism, human trafficking, and the death penalty.
As the school continues to grow and we all continue on our life journeys, let us remember to embrace life to the fullest.
Have a great weekend!
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