Week 15 (2017) -Experiments, Accountability, and Excellence

What a week! Even though we’ve had 2 snow days, our heroes have made some major accomplishments! Among these accomplishments, one of our Heroes completed all of the first grade material on Dreambox and is now working towards her level 2 math badge (even though she came in as a first grader), and another completed all of the first and second grade materials on Kahn Academy and is now working towards his level 3 math badge. I get so excited when I think about the possibilities these young heroes can achieve when there is nothing holding them back!

In Core Skills this week, we have been working on developing healthy habits. It takes approximately 21 days to build a habit, and we want our young heroes to develop the habits that will push them towards success for the rest of their lives. To encourage healthy Core Skills habits among all of our heroes, we are holding everybody to higher standards of excellence within the studio. This means, our heroes are setting their goals, and them immediately being challenged by a guide (to see whether or not these goals are challenging enough). At the end of Core Skills, heroes then check in with an accountability partner and report their progress to a guide. If a hero has not met the majority of his/her goals (2/3), that hero then sits at the “Focus Table” the next day where extra support is available.

In addition to setting high goals during Core Skills, our heroes are also working to develop higher standards of excellence in general within the studio. Today, heroes selected members of the team who will work on an “Excellence Committee” that works to improve the studio environment. We also recognize that though these are great steps, nothing is possible without the strength of God. We are praying that God will direct each of our hearts, and help us to be the most excellent version of ourselves. During close today, our heroes prayed for one another and identified ways they can support each other in this.

The Detective Quest this week has been coming along great! Our heroes have now taken fingerprint samples, casted a footprint, completed a bite-mark analysis, sampled handwriting, and done ink chromatography to match traces of ink left at the crime scene to the suspects’ writing utensils. They are loving the experiments, and our oldest heroes have really stepped it up to help the younger ones create detective reports each day. So far, the heroes suspect that I TOOK THE COOKIE FROM THE COOKIE JAR! Can you believe they would think such a thing?? They will find out for sure next week when we finish putting all of the clues together.

Some Interesting Discussion Topics we have had this week included:

1. Is it mean to give someone a consequence or does it show love? If God corrects us because he loves us, should we correct our friends?
2. Which of the following would you consider the MOST important habit for success?

• Setting Goals
• Being Results-Oriented (Completing the MOST important things first)
• Be People-Oriented (Recognize you need support from others)
• Be Health-Oriented (Take care of your needs)
• Be Honest with yourself and others
• Self-Discipline (Make yourself do what you should do whether you feel like it or not).

3. After God created the world, he said that it was very good. God created you and said that you were also very good. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were ashamed and hid from God. Do you think God still thought they were good? Yes/No? What does God think of us when we make mistakes?

4. Is it bad to make mistakes? Yes/No? Is it bad to make mistakes if learn from them? Is it bad to make mistakes if you never try to learn from them? Is it possible to learn if you never ask for help when you need it?

Reminder:

Please don’t forget that there will be No School on Monday in celebration of Martin Luther King Day! Hope you all enjoy the extra long weekend!