Is Empathy Important For Design? - Year 3, Week 33

 

A busy week for our studios with growth for both learners and our Guides! Our studios learn about empathy and also get to plan field trips! Did you ever get the chance to choose your own field trips?!

We also have lots of upcoming important dates coming up.. stay tuned!

spark studio

"Together even the smallest can achieve the greatest goal." Name that movie!


Yep, that’s right, it’s “A Bug’s Life” around here. Entomology is turning out to be our favorite Quest yet. Miss Mela has even come a long way... she touched a bug! Coming up next week our friends from Bee Downtown are buzzing by to share their expertise in beekeeping.


Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Mexican army's victory over Napoleon III's French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. The heroes were intrigued and decided the Mexicans won because of their bravery.
Jarabe tapatío, often referred to as the Mexican Hat Dance, is the national dance of Mexicans. It originated as a courtship dance. We spent time learning about Mexican culture through dance, music, & fashion. We love the vibrant colors and flare. Learning the Mexican Hat Dance was a huge hit.


We are in the final stretch of the school year and the learners are focused on the finish line. It reminds us a little of the holiday season with all of the excitement and energy happening. With the end in sight, it brings about many emotions as well. We will continue our discussions based upon things that are happening around and within us. Using emotional language makes it okay to talk about feelings and leads to more positive coping and helps us feel close to people who care.

elementary studio

What does it mean to have empathy, and is it important when you are designing?


Today our heroes got to conduct empathy interviews with our clients for this session. We were able to visit Fun Spot America here in Fayetteville to find out exactly what they were looking for in a new roller coaster. So, what is an empathy interview and what does that look like? Empathy interviews are the cornerstone of Design Thinking. By entering and understanding another person’s thoughts, feelings, and motivations, we can understand the choices that a person makes, their behavioral traits, and we are able identify their needs.


Heroes were able to get an understanding of what the upcoming needs are for Fun Spot’s new coaster additions, what themes are carried throughout the park, what the underlying philosophy of Fun Spot is, and how they can incorporate those into their designs. The abstract physics lessons we have done over the course of this year were able to come to life, and be seen in action. This trip allowed heroes to stand in the actual place their coaster could be built and imagine themselves as professional mechanical engineers designing the next big coaster. How cool would it be, to one day ride a roller coaster designed by Forest School Heroes!

middle school studio

The next few weeks will move quickly! Middle School learners are working to complete apprenticeships and Badge Plans as the school year comes to a close. They've been made aware of the following dates, but these are useful for parents to be aware of as well. Feel free to ask your learner about any questions you have.


Dates of Importance:

  • May 10-21: Apprenticeships

    • Everyone should aim for one 40-hour apprenticeship

    • On-track/ahead heroes should seek two 40-hour apprenticeships

    • No new Civ, Quest, or Storytelling challenges will be posted

    • Learners not working an apprenticeship will spend time on Core Skills, catch up work, and deep cleaning.

  • May 22: Graduation/End of Year Celebration

  • May 26-28: IOWA testing

  • May 27: Final Exhibition

  • May 28: ALL BADGES DUE!!!

  • May 31: Memorial Day (no school)

  • June 1-2: Last days in-person

  • June 3-4: Family challenges

high school studio

The scientific method trains the brain to examine and observe before making a statement of fact. -Paige Hudson


All session long, heroes have been conducting different experiments as they were through learning how to use the scientific method. In addition, heroes dove into breaking down attachment theories. They tried their hand at breaking them down and diagnosing which client fits which attachment category. Heroes also looked at Social constructs and then dismantled those and created their own. Lastly, they looked at what trust means and completed 5 trust activities as a group.

As the session gets closer to wrapping up, the HS studio continues to grind out their badge plans. This week as a studio, we took a deep dive into approving all of their work before the due date.

Reminder, the high school is still in need of volunteers for the following dates June 1 and 2. Please use this link to sign up if you are available: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0c45a4a62caaf49-high7

Iowa testing will take place on May 26-28th from 9-12.
Only 4 weeks left to go in the session!


-Onward

Banner image via

 
Tyler Thigpen