Exhibition Excursion

(Year 3, Week 18)

Organization

The heroes kicked off Monday morning with a cubby clean-out. The heroes nailed studio maintenance this session but appeared to still be struggling with their personal maintenance. At Monday morning launch, the heroes elected a personal maintenance leader. The heroes decided the personal maintenance leader would be in charge of checking off their duties and only keeping a water bottle, pen/paper and book on their desks. Everything else that they have will be kept in their backpacks or hung up in the hallways.

Usually the heroes wait until Friday to get some of the organization and last minute tidying done. However, they dove into cleaning out their cubbies and checking off the items that were approved. After 45 minutes the heroes had scrubbed their desks, cubbies and thrown all of their excess items away. There was even some trading and bartering of notebooks and binders. Kicking off Monday organized and clean, flowed directly into the rest of the week.

Art

The heroes were challenged to finish their quests a week early and they rose to the occasion. They put in endless hours and successfully created Stop-Motion videos. With two Writer’s Workshop projects, a 3–5 minute video and two hours of outdoor experience each week, the heroes were on the move. The final week they got to take a slight break from the go-go-go and dive into their creative sides.

The heroes were given the challenge to create their own tape-paint project. The idea of the project was to use the tape and make a design on a white canvas. Then they used whatever color paint they wanted and filled in the areas. The heroes created everything from diamonds and stars to abstract mosaics. They got to watch a presentation on the history of acrylics and experimented with different types of paint brushes to get the form and technique that worked for them. They finished off their pieces with glitter and ripped off the blue tape in delight.

Outside Joy

At the beginning of the year the heroes struggled to find passion in outside activities. Especially when the seasons changed. However, their mindset changed drastically when Outdoor Experience was introduced. This week the heroes asked for more time to play and explore in the outdoor area. They were mixed across the field and could be seen participating in capture the flag, wall ball and in a game of make-believe. The heroes had started to build their own worlds and introduced new game strategies to make winning more difficult. They hashed out disagreements and worked together to solve strategies for turmoil they faced.

Midway through the week a guide noticed a powerful moment. As most of the heroes were wrapped up in their Outdoor Experience, there were two heroes who chose to spend their time a little differently. The heroes were seen with a trash bag in hand walking the perimeter of the field. They slowly walked and collected trash and didn’t stop until the entire field was swept. What was interesting was their silent approach to picking up the area. They didn’t ask any heroes for help, they didn’t acknowledge what they were doing, they simply walked around, collected trash and then quietly jogged over to the bin when it was time to go inside. The two heroes were pulled aside and asked what made them choose to clean up the area. They seemed a little surprised that it was even noticed, they replied,

“We just wanted to take care of our field and the planet.”

With a slight shrug, they ran toward the rug to join the heroes. The lessons at Heroes Academy continue to be much deeper than just core skills.

Exhibition

The Exhibition was held at Overland Park Cinemas. On the morning of Exhibition the heroes listened to a two minute clip of a twenty minute Ted Talk on “Creative Confidence.” The heroes then discussed the importance of not comparing their own heroes journey to one another. They were then encouraged to share what they loved about their Stop Motion experience. The heroes shared the following:

“I loved how my audio matched my story.”

“I was creative with my story.”

“I liked that I used clay because it let me mold my own characters.”

“I liked how I didn’t give up when my video was deleted three times.”

When exhibition rolled around the heroes jumped in their parent’s cars and were off! When they arrived at the theater they set up the voting area and discussed where they think it would be best to sit. They were excited, nervous and ready for the action to start. For the next forty minutes the heroes were able to see their hard work and dedication up on the big screen. Laughter along with oo’s and ahh’s filled the studio.

At the end, the visitors were able to vote on their favorite Stop Motion video. We are excited to announce that Tyson’s movie, “Tige Adventure” was the winner! Congratulations Tyson, and a big congratulations goes out to all of the heroes. They worked so hard and accomplished a big goal that they set at the beginning of the session.

Celebration

Friday was a day for celebration. The heroes were finished with exhibition and ready to celebrate their hard work. They decided early on in the week they wanted to celebrate Valentine’s Day. They brought in candy, valentines and little mailboxes they had created. They delivered Valentines and thought that next year they should make a whole week out of the celebration. They also celebrated two birthdays and exchanged kind words with the birthday heroes.

They had spent session 5 listening to The Tale of Despereaux and were finally able to watch the movie. The Tale of Despereaux was about a heroic mouse choosing to do the right thing when faced with adversity. While the heroes listened to the story, they had many reflections focused on what stage the small mouse was at on his hero’s journey. They found joy in comparing their own journeys to little Desperaux.

Wrap-Up

The heroes finished strong. They created art, wrote stories and finished Stop Motion movies from scratch. They were excited to bring home all of the work that they finished this session. In their binders the heroes had: handwritten stillness reflections, badges, their letter to a hero and their creative hero story. They were also excited to pack up their artwork to take home and show their families. This next week the heroes will have a break and reset. After endless hours of collaboration and traveling on their hero’s journey, they are in need of a little rest and relaxation.