Cheeto and Dorito
(Year 5, Week 16)
This week the studio welcomed two wonderful additions to the studio, Cheeto and Dorito.
The heroes who were voted in as caretakers (including the winner of the Pitch-a-Pet competition) were able to go Tuesday morning to pick the two female mice that would be the new studio pets.
The heroes have taken this responsibility very seriously and have spent time the last few weeks discussing their pet contract and holding each other to those promises. One specific contract promises is to only have 3 people near the mice at once so they aren’t overwhelmed, something they have taken very seriously.
Here is a special moment for the studio when Cheeto and Dorito were found cuddling with each other in their wood shelter.
Contracts and Promises
This session we also welcomed a few new heroes to the studio. This week, they had the opportunity to officially commit to the promise in a formal signing of the contract.
A few that had not officially signed the contracts also had a chance to sign.
Since the studio is governed almost exclusively by these promises, it’s always an important, ceremonious event to have new heroes make these commitments, and a great time to reflect on promises kept and promises not kept. Several heroes shared which promises meant the most to them, and the significance of the contract for them on their hero’s journey.
Civilization
Each week the heroes come together for a discussion about civilization. This year has centered around early modern times and the founding of America. Since the studio was freed from King George a few weeks ago, the heroes have been discussing the constitution, the bill of rights, and other early American events.
This week they read from Story of the World about one of Americas greatest heroes, George Washington, and his reluctance to be President. After reading, they discussed a few interesting questions:
Was George Washington’s refusal to serve a third term a heroic act or a selfish act?
What made George Washington such a unique leader?
- His love of his country,
- His lack of ego,
- His vision of the future, or
- Something else?
The Bill of Rights enabled Americans opportunities not often allowed under British rule, such as speaking their opinion openly (freedom of speech), worshipping whichever god they please (freedom of religion), and having weapons to defend themselves (right to bear arms). All of these are still topics of discussion today. To you, which is most important and why?
Peer Critiques (Writer’s Workshop)
This session the heroes have expressed really enjoying writer’s workshop and writing science-based fiction stories of their own creation.
Now that they have completed their drafts, they are spending this week revising and critiquing their stories and giving each other warm and cool feedback.
Feedback and revision is an important part of the excellence process here at Heroes Academy and Actons across the globe. To help learners become excellence writers, the heroes draft, revise, receive feedback and repeat. Eventually they compare their work to world class examples from world class authors, constantly looking to elevate their ability to communicate with their audience.
Quest
Some say the deep sea is as mysterious as deep space. According to the 15 minute snippet of Blue Planet the heroes watched this week, fewer people have traveled to the deep ocean than into space.
As part of their quest to discover the deep ocean, the heroes spent time learning about light and animal “adaptions.”
They then were challenged to research the most interesting deep sea animal they could discover, and bring it into the studio in the form of a paper mache model.
Wrap Up
This week has been full of learning, some learning more challenging, some more fun. One highlight of the week was to see old friends choose to come together to share learning. It’s a great depiction of joy of the studio and the beauty of a learner-driven community.
