Independent Learners

Week 5 Newsletter: September 18-22, 2017
Our heroes are developing into strong independent learners as they seek out various ways to learn and explore. They are self-motivated as they set their goals in their badge books each morning, driven not by grades or rewards, but by their own personal achievement. Their badge books also help them examine their work, evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, and strive for measurable progress. They are learning to be accountable for their own education through the work that they do during core skills, writer’s workshop, and project time. Our discussions encourage our heroes to think critically, examining many possibilities and multiple solutions based on real-world observations. Most importantly, our heroes discover the value of persistence, learning from mistakes, and never giving up.

Our field trip to the Grand Rapids Downtown Market provided the real-world experience our heroes needed to learn more about being an entrepreneur. Hearing real-life business owners share their stories about how they started their businesses and their passion for the work they do truly inspired and encouraged our heroes. Many heroes admired how passionate the business owners were as they expressed their love for what they do, especially the joy they bring to people through their businesses, such as making someone’s favorite ice cream flavor, making juice from fruits and vegetables for someone who has not eaten any fruits or vegetable since he was a kid or delivering flowers to a wedding.  They also learned the importance of the price of each product in making a sale, which they experienced first-hand as a consumer during the field trip. One young hero shared that she learned that entrepreneurs “do not only talk to one person, but to many people  so that more people would buy their products.” 

Special thanks to our Elementary and Middle school buddies for helping our early learners explore the downtown market, helping them keep track of their spending and keeping them safe during the field trip. Experiencing the freedom to visit the stores and businesses on their own gave our heroes the confidence to interact with the businesses, inquiring of the products sold, making choices, taking the risks of purchasing products they choose using their own resources, thus learning from their own choices.

Working on our table displays really got the heroes even more excited for the business fair. Our heroes had lots of fun adding more details to our posters like our banners, slogans, logos, and the prices of our products. They also gave each other ideas on costumes or what to wear on the day of the business fair to really attract the attention of potential customers. They practiced their pitches and added some suggestions they learned from our hero talks like introducing themselves to customers personally to build rapport, then followed by an invitation to try their products or services. The lessons our heroes learned during the entrepreneur quest are invaluable and endless as they continue their awareness of the world around them and how they could truly make a positive impact on others according to their calling.