Survivor Quest- Week 5

“Don’t set off to build a wall… Lay each brick perfectly, every single day, and eventually you’ll have a wall…”

– Will Smith

What an amazing, inspirational, and jam-packed, adventure-filled week at THA!

Here are the biggest highlights:

1. Orienteering Challenge on Monday:
   • In teams of 3 and 4 Warriors set off in the “wilderness” ready to engage in a series of adventures. As they navigated via compass, they faced various challenges the guides had set up for them on the THA field including: crossing a rushing river using lily pads, scaring away bears, protecting themselves from lightening strikes, dealing with snake bites and poisonous plants, creating a bear bag for their food, and much more!

2. Morning Launches:

• Warriors engaged in more inspirational and thought-provoking Socratic discussions including one on “laying each brick perfectly,” focusing on taking things one step at a time, doing the small things right, and believing in ourselves. We watched this amazing and inspiring video as a lead-in to our discussion.
• We also discussed the significance of Saint Patrick’s Day, living up to our contract promise of “Speaking with Kindness, Encouragement, and Truth” through skits performed by the guides, and the importance of “Leaving No Trace” when we interact with nature, especially with our Camping Trip Exhibition coming up. We watched this thought-provoking video to spark our discussion and think deeper about our impact on nature.

3. Meet the Expert

• Last but not least, we had an amazing visit from Mr. Akins, our Survivor Expert, who shared various real life adventures and amazing bits of wisdom he’s gained throughout his Hero’s Journey and becoming an Eagle Scout. He showed us how he used a compass and map to navigate through the wilderness when his group was lost about 5 miles from camp. He also came outside and helped us start our own fires! We all enjoyed some delicious s’mores after making successful fires using raw materials. Among the many insightful things he shared, were two very simple yet profound lessons he’d learned:

“Do your best and always be prepared.”

We also had a blast using clay and making pottery in art! Super excited for our Camping Trip Exhibition this week!

Survivor Quest – Week 4

“The Acton story is most surprising in that this power shift unleashes children to care so deeply about their learning that they choose to work hard, hold tight boundaries for each other, and rise to excellence in ways we never imagined. Self-imposed rigor is integral to our daily life…”  – Laura Sandefer, Courage To Grow

 

It’s amazing to walk into the THA studio on a Monday morning during free time and see young heroes choosing to work (on identity maps, shelters, math, reading, etc.), instead of playing. Throughout this week, several Warriors chose to use their free-time in the morning and/or during lunch to work on their Quests and Core Skills. Despite not having any homework, several Warriors choose to work from home frequently, and as a result have mastered math and reading skills way beyond their respective grade-levels.

 

The Survivor Quest continued to put our Warriors into real world wilderness challenges. They really enjoyed learning some basics in first aid and put those skills to the test by diving into in simulations that tested their both their knowledge and decision-making in emergency situations.

 

This week’s launches included:

1. Monday – a discussion on the Hero’s Journey, the role of fellow travelers, and the feeling of isolation. Warriors were asked about their relationships with one another and if they ever felt isolated in the studio despite having such an amazing group of fellow travelers. When you or someone feels isolated, is it because of their own insecurities or because the people are because exclusive or because you are dealing with your own insecurities?  How can we work as a studio to make sure we are not making one another feel left out? What can do if I am feeling left out?
2. Tuesday – Warriors watched a video of an individual building a hut in the wilderness out of natural materials found in the wild before being asked: is it more powerful to be able to build a hut like this, teach someone to build a hut like this, or have the money to pay someone to build something like this? Warriors then talked about whether life is more desirable in the hustle and bustle of urban life or a more natural and peaceful setting.
3. Wednesday – Warriors watched a few videos paying tribute to the life and contributions of Stephen Hawking. They learned about his courage and audacity to defy medical science, doctors, and experts and live over 50 years longer than predicted with such a horrible disease. They were asked what was more inspiring: his resilience in dealing with such a terrible disease, his renowned contributions to science, or something else about his Hero’s Journey.
4. Thursday – Warriors discussed who is more powerful: nature or humans? They engaged in a very intriguing and insightful debate about power, influence, dependency, etc.

 

In art, they put finishing touches on their life-size portraits, in PE they continued their soccer unit, and during Civilization, in addition to the readings and challenges about Alexander the Great and Ancient Greece, Warriors had a blast engaging in a Civilization related Socratic discussion facilitated by a Middle School Warrior. For Writer’s Workshop, their challenges this week included completing the first drafts of their scenes, conducting peer critiques, and evaluating the “Voice” of their work.

Can’t wait for more adventures next week as we draw nearer to the Camping Trip Exhibition!

 

Survivor Quest – Week 3

“Education must not simply teach work- it must teach LIFE.”  – W.E.B. Du Bois

Whether it is through inspirational launches about the courage of Irena Sendler who saved over 2000 Jewish children during the Holocaust, the audacity of our founding fathers to establish our nation against the strongest empire the world had ever scene, or the integrity of Gandhi who, as a teenager, confessed his lying and stealing to his father in a written letter, Warriors learn not just about theoretical, bookish knowledge, but about life.

The Socratic discussions, which are a part of every launch, challenge Warriors to think for themselves, to articulate their thoughts, to take a stand, and reflect on their real-life decision-making. Life-oriented and thought provoking questions force Warriors to take a stand and listen to differing view points. For example: what would you secure first if you were stuck in the wilderness: shelter, food, water, or something else? Why? What type of choices will you make today in the studio to advance on your hero’s journey? What was the most important lesson you learned today: was it related to Core Skills, to your friendships with other Warriors, something about yourself, or learning about survival (quest)?

Learning challenges like our current Survivor Quest challenges provide life-oriented, hands-on learning as well. They are not just learning about survival techniques from a text book. Building on last week’s water accumulation and filtration challenges, they went outside and built their own shelters out of natural materials, and learned how to set up tents with no adult interference, etc.

Every interaction with fellow travelers, older, younger, and same-aged Warriors, provides an opportunity to develop life-skills. The studio environment is filled with interaction, collaboration, emotions, and teamwork, even though it is not always preferred. Peer accountability toward the studio contract that they’ve created and signed themselves is not an easy task. It gets difficult not just for our young heroes, but for anyone to stand up to their friends when they are not acting with integrity. These life-lessons are a constant in the THA studio.

It provides real-life situations for every Warrior to develop and grow into the hero they were meant to be. It is natural to make mistakes, to fail, to lose, to get upset, angry, frustrated, dejected, etc. But the studio environment they’ve created helps them remember that being a hero is not about always winning and succeeding, but about getting back up and trying again. Because that’s what real heroes do.

See you next week!

Survivor Quest Week 2!

“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” – C.S. Lewis

 

This week in pictures…

Morning launches were such a blast! Warriors were deeply moved by the inspiring story of Campbell Remess, a 13-year-young hero who provides love and warmth to sick children in hospitals by making them personalized teddy bears. He taught himself how to sew and learned how to make them all on his own! Now he has his own organization: Project 365. You can watch the video our Warriors saw for morning launch here.  We also had discussions on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, treating the studio like a sacred space as promised in our contract, and the Dreaded Drama Triangle: being a persecutor, victim, or rescuer during social conflicts. 

Quest was amazing this week! It is great to see Warriors getting their hands dirty and learning by doing, through hands on experiences. This week they learned about ways to find water in the wilderness, building solar stills, water filtration, their identity through discovering own love languages, and much more…

During Core Skills this week, Warriors began crafting a badge plan for the session. They reflected on their work thus far, evaluated their progression for each Core Skills badge, and  discussed their goals for this session and the end of the year with a running partner. They continued to work hard during Core Skills time…

A debate during civilization: Which Ancient Greek city-state was better to live in: Athens or Sparta? 

 

Basket weaving in Art… 

PE and a Nature Walk team building activity…

After school activities…

 

Stay tuned for more amazing THA adventures!