New Start

(Year 4, Week 28)

Mini Children’s Business Fair

The heroes were given an optional challenge to create a small Origami business and have a stand off with other heroes. They worked diligently and a few of the heroes went home and got supplies together for their Monday competition. The challenge was for the heroes to work on a mini business selling Origami art and competing like they would at the Children’s Business Fair.

This challenge was completely optional but more than half of the studio rose to the occasion. They were told to execute a marketing plan, price plan and even a little booth. When reflecting on the work put in over two days, one of the heroes called it, “organized chaos!”

There was paper flying, the printer going off every few minutes, heroes running from one area to another. On Monday, they got their little booths set up and stood next to their creations with smiles on their faces. They worked the room and really tried to sell it to the judges. At the end of the day the judges voted and it was clear that one hero walked away the winner!

While everyone applauded, there were still a few tears. Not taking first place is such a difficult emotion. Especially in the business world. This led to a chat with a few of the heroes about how not everyone will see your vision and sometimes someone is going to just beat you out, fair and square. While it’s okay to be sad and disheartened, it is equally as important to keep working towards your own goal. The guide and heroes talked about the importance of not looking to the left and right, but staying on your own personal course will always help you achieve your dreams. Even if it takes awhile.

Deep Discussion

“Heroes, if you could pinpoint an issue in the studio, in terms of the contract, what promise is continually being broken?”

Not practicing the Golden Rule

Not being honest

Something else…

A brave hero answered and what they said was unexpected:

“Honestly? I just don’t think people care half the time, which leads to strikes. I’m actually supposed to tell you when people cross the guardrail boundary but I forget and then they don’t have to reflect on what they did.”

The guide responded:

“Do you not have enough time to tell me? Do you need more support? Or is it something else?”

She replied,

“I am just so exhausted getting work done that I forget. I think we can come up with a better system for accountability. Or maybe just more support for council.”

The guide got to work. Asking questions, listening, taking notes and finally coming to an agreement with the heroes and council. Tuesday’s morning launch was eye opening and insightful. A reminder that the heroes do know best. A reminder that learner driven is deeper than just badge check offs, but it goes as far as creating a community, rebuilding and pivoting when possible. Within the boundaries, the guide has agreed to more council meetings along with checks and balances. The heroes have agreed to uphold their hero buck council duties within the limits of what they need to get done personally.

Creating more transparency and more chances for meetings is what the heroes say they needed. Therefore, the studio will be moving in that direction. More check ins and more accountability towards upholding the contract. It’s easy to get lost in the day to day, but as the heroes have said, without check ins sometimes things just get pushed to the side. Sometimes things fester and then eventually issues boil over.

The morning meeting ended with a hero saying;

“as long as we know we have support, we can take on the responsibility of holding one another accountable.”

Ecosystems

Wild Wednesdays seem to be a hit in the studio. Every Wednesday the heroes sit down to a random launch. Sometimes it is role play, other times it’s a fun trivia game. Over the past week the heroes had been chatting about the earth and different energy sources. After hearing about their curiosity for all things earth, the guide decided to surprise the heroes with an outside adventure.

at 8:30am they put on their shoes and headed to the park. They were then challenged with finding different vegetation and water from the stream to place into a bucket. After that they circled in the grass and chatted about how an ecosystem works. What type of ecosystems there are and how they can create their own. The heroes were excited to keep their ecosystem in the studio to see how it changes overtime.

Then a side conversation got started about picking up trash and even making their own sustainable garden. The heroes later pitched to the guide about building a self-sustaining herb and flower garden within the studio! They spent the rest of the week researching herb gardens and how to keep them self-sustainable. Stay tuned!

Badges

Some of the heroes are not where they want to be in terms of badges. They ended up having a morning launch about what better way they could be held accountable and different motivating factors. The heroes decided that they were going to turn collaboration into a more intentional time and that they wanted better brain breaks during the day.

The guide presented a new schedule to them and the ‘crowd went wild.’ Instead of going out once a day, the heroes were now going out twice. They would do a break between core skills and collaboration to take a 20 minute reset period out in the sun. After that, they would come in and do a deep breathing exercise and get settled into core skills. After that, they are all challenged to work on badge work. Meaning, they must work towards badges they have set out to get by the end of the year. This means that some heroes will work on math every collaboration. Some in typing and others in a mix of badges.

They wanted to have something to look forward to so they decided on an extra 30 minutes of free time if everyone participated in badge work. For three straight days the heroes hit their goal. There was new energy around the badges and a ton of teamwork. By the end of the week there was a total of 15 new badges completed! They agreed that mini challenges with rewards kept them highly motivated to help hit their goals.

Putting in Work

Usually, Friday’s are centered around more fun and less work. The energy is always high on a Friday afternoon. Yet, this one was different. With the adjustment in the schedule to allow more energy releases, the heroes seemed to be content working even during hero’s choice.

While some chose to play games and do some team bonding, others could be seen going hard at work on their quest. The volume in the studio was less and there were less heroes having to be held accountable. One hero could even be seen actually putting together her earrings that she plans to sell at the Children’s Business Fair.

There is something to be said about changing schedules that might not be working and pivoting into new directions when the old ways seem to be wearing down. While play and fun is always a Friday highlight, it was evident that the heroes also enjoyed a little more work and even concentration towards their goals.

Wrap-Up

The heroes started out on Monday with a friendly, mini-sized business fair. They competed with Origami and tried to out pitch and outsell one another. One hero walked away as the winner and felt proud and honored to have worked so hard. A chat about accountability and support from the guides and council popped up on Tuesday. It was a deep discussion about what the heroes think they need and how the heroes plan to hold one another accountable. They sat around the rug fine tuning issues and being honest about the support they feel they need. By mid-week, heroes had done some research on ecosystems and how they could create their own. They now have a new goal of a self-sustainable garden for the studio! The heroes ended their week by working on their businesses and having fun in Hero’s Choice.