Being Honest and Keeping a Promise

(Year 4, Week 27)

Studio Contract

Monday morning the heroes sat around the rug and were greeted with a launch about promises. They contemplated the following questions:

“Do promises matter?”

“Does the studio contract matter?”

“What studio contract promise do you tend to break?”

“What studio contract promise do you work hard to uphold.”

The conversation was long and insightful. The heroes really dove into one promise they felt that most of the time they were breaking. It was the “Golden Rule.” Many of the heroes felt that they could be kinder, they could help more. They believe that they could treat one another with more respect and that it wasn’t kind to dismiss heroes when they were hurting or needed more assistance. One comment rang through the studio,

“Remember, we all need help sometimes, we all need to lend a hand if we can.”

Graphic Novels

The heroes were busy this last week with making their graphic novels. The heroes are designing stories based around a central character, a hero if you will. That hero has to go on a grand adventure! The storyline can lean into any genre but it must hit that criteria. Along with the story, the heroes must create drawings for different scenes. Think Roller Girl or Dogman

The heroes can choose to create their stories using a word doc, canva or even an online animation. The final product just has to be their hero adventure story with pictures to match. Many of the heroes teamed up and some even had stories that could be combined into one. Their imaginations really run wild when they are working in teams.

Two heroes are using ancient Greek Mythology and creating their own story based off of Zeus and his life. They are working hard at putting in time developing their pictures and making sure they are hitting their word goals.

Pitching

Part of the Children’s Business Fair is to come up with a strong pitch. A way to bring the buyers in. The heroes were challenged during the week to come up with world class pitches. They spent a little over and hour working together and building out their pitches using their previous knowledge of ethos, pathos and logos.

The next day during collaboration, they were challenged to do their pitch in front of their fellow travelers. Some of them were nervous but most of them understood they had to get past some of their fears so they would have a strong pitch for the Children’s Business Fair. Below, enjoy one of the pitches!

“Have you ever wanted to match with your best bud? (your furry best bud) no I’m not talking about your weird friend, I’m talking about your dog! do you ever wanna award you dog for being such a good boy! (or girl) well here is how you can do it! you can get them a gift from hands and paws, which will include… a scrunchi for you, a MATCHING bandanna for them! and a card explaining why i started this business and how! all of my products are hand made, by me! but wait… what will i do with this money you ask? well today, all profits from bandanas sold will go to the humane society, where i got my little guy!”

Reading Buddies

Over the past couple of months, the Discovery heroes have been working with the Spark heroes for ten minutes on Thursday afternoons. They take turns reading a book that the Spark hero picked out. This caused a lot of excitement in the studio in the beginning. The Discovery heroes were excited to take on a mentor position while the Spark heroes were excited to show off their reading skills to their new friend.

However, over the past couple of weeks there had been instances of the Discovery heroes not showing up. Leaving a Spark hero to sit alone without a buddy. This caused some tension. When asked about why they were continuing to break their promise, some of their replies were:

“I was busy.”

“I just had more important stuff to do.”

“I’m tired of reading.”

Part of the Discovery studios contract says, “make promises that I will keep.” This led to a lengthy discussion about how they have felt when someone older or someone they simply looked up to would break promises:

“One time my cousin forgot to pick me up and it made me feel really sad.”

“I have had someone I look up to break multiple promises to me and sometimes I think that’s why I can’t trust people.”

“Someone I care about pinky promises me and never follows through. It sucks.”

It’s so easy to say things like:

“Not now.”

“I am too tired.”

“I had a long day.”

While it is so important to take care of our overall mental health. To take breaks when needed. It is equally important to follow through with promises. The heroes sat down and chatted about accountability. They believed that breaking their promise to the Spark is breaking the contract they signed. Meaning it goes against the studio guardrails. Moving forward, the Discovery heroes remade their promise to the Spark, to simply,

“Show up and be present.”

Movie Parties

One cool thing that the heroes can work towards is earning enough hero bucks to have a mid-day party. They get to order lunch and pick out a movie. One of the stipulations is to create a document for their guardians to sign. They are required to bring that back for them to attend, ensuring they are able to watch the movie.

At the beginning of the year, if heroes forgot their permission slip, usually there were tears and saying how unfair it was. It is so hard to forget to do something and be let down. Working so hard to get to a fun party then not being able to attend feels so defeating.

It was a powerful moment in the studio when three of the heroes forgot their permission slip. These were their direct quotes when approaching the guide.

Hero 1, “I forgot my permission slip. I was hoping I could borrow your phone to call my family. I really don’t want to miss out but I know I need permission.”

Hero 2, “I’m not going to go, it was on me to bring the slip and my mom works. Next time I will set a reminder.”

Hero 3, “Do you have my mom’s email? If not I know her number and would really love to call if that’s okay.”

Seeing the change from the beginning of the year to the end was monumental. The heroes knew that they forgot, owned up to it and pivoted when they got to school. Being honest and communicative was powerful to see. This situation is no different than facing any type of adversity. Their willingness to be okay with the outcome was also inspiring.

Wrap-Up

Monday morning the heroes sat around the rug and were greeted with a launch about promises. They deeply discussed what it meant to keep a promise and what it means to break a promise. This led to a big discussion about holding up their promises to Spark heroes. Part of the Children’s Business Fair is to come up with a strong pitch. A way to bring the buyers in. The heroes were challenged during the week to come up with world class pitches. Some of the heroes ended the week with a fun movie party and even learned how to pivot when they were faced with forgetting their permission slips. Learning through the adversity!