“One fails forward towards success.” – C.S. Lewis

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In these last three weeks of the Life Skills Quest, it was incredible to witness these heroes push themselves, overcome obstacles, and learn new skills listed below:

  • Learning and creating “how to” videos for how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the Heimlich Maneuver, how to use a fire extinguisher using the acronym P.A.S.S., and how to stay safe in case of a fire emergency.
  • Sewing on a button and using a sewing machine (thanks to Project 1).
  • Proper etiquette and common courtesy.
  • Organizational skills for their Google Documents and Google Drive.
  • Prepping and preparing a crock pot recipe.
  • Building (painting and staining)
  • Making a tie blanket and/or painting a birdhouse.
  • Baking a recipe (including making a shopping list for ingredients, shopping for those ingredients, and baking it).

This year sure has been full of beautiful memories and celebrations! The heroes have stepped into the role of an entrepreneur, politician, game maker, coder, and architect. Each hero, in differing ways, have experienced failures, successes, and have often pointed out that their greatest failures have pointed them to their greatest achievements. May the heroes always remember the importance of a growth mindset. C.S. Lewis states it well, “Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward towards success”

Although it is hard to see another year come to an end, the last day was filled with great joy and laughter. Check out some pictures from the last exhibition and the last day.

These bakers are ready to shop for their ingredients!

The baking is finished. Nice work!

These heroes are welcoming family and friends at the final exhibition. We are so happy that you could all come.

Sometimes you have to improvise and come up with a Plan B.

Showing their “how to” videos from week one of the Life Skills Quest.

Seeing more “how to” videos.

Now it is time to taste test!

Celebrating a birthday on the last day of school. Thanks for the donuts. 🙂

It’s the M&M Relay.

Have you asked your hero:

  1. What their most challenging quest of the year was? Why?
  2. What their favorite quest of the year was? Why?
  3. What their greatest accomplishment was this year? Why?
  4. What their favorite field trip was this year? Why?
  5. What they look forward to doing this summer?

 

 

 

Sun, Fun, and Another Year Done

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Life Skills Quest was packed full of new skills and adventures, though it may have not been fully communicated through the exhibition.  Heroes learned how to use fire extinguishers, give CPR and the Heimlich, hand sew and use sewing machines, safe use of drills, paint, and staining, organize Google drives, cook a meal, and use self defense in emergency situations.

Heroes have stretched themselves greatly to achieve goals, grow in their conflict resolution, invite new heroes into their journeys, and learn from mistakes.

Winston Churchill once said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.”  May your summer be blessed, packed full of curious adventures, and courageously prepare for a new year and fresh journey to grow.

Consider others better than yourself

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This week the heroes learned life skills that would enable them to care for others. After learning about the five food groups, they were ready to make their own lunches with PB&J sandwiches. The next day, many heroes said they packed their own lunches and did not need mom or dad to make their PB&J sandwiches for them. They also had a blast trying different fruit smoothies recipes that they created together on their own. But when they finished all the fruits, they were content with making the last batch of a mix of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream shake. One of the heroes was so proud to share his special blueberry muffin recipe and brought all the ingredients for his friends to help him bake at school. The heroes also felt very confident when they tried sewing by hand and a sewing machine. One hero even patched up a hole she found on Ms. Elsie’s cardigan! Learning these life skills increased each hero’s confidence in his/her abilities. Many heroes proudly shared with their families all that they were able to do on their own. They were even more eager to be able to do things for others and not just for themselves.

Week 2: June 10-14. 2019

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Launch For your Hero’s Journey, when looking to the end, which could be decades down the line, in a few years, in a few weeks, or even in a matter of days, is it most important to be happy, to be satisfied or to be fulfilled? Which of these will be the most important question for you at the end of the journey? Why? Did I contribute something meaningful? Was I a good person?  Who did I love, and who loved me? What’s most important as a Hero: Your goals;

Who do you choose as fellow travelers?

 What’s the hardest part of a Hero’s Journey: Taking the first step; Persevering after a failure? Is it more important to:

Begin with the end in mind; Make every day an adventure?
Project time Nutrition

Make their own lunch

Making a PBJ sandwich

Mix, stir, cut with a dull knife

 Fruit smoothie

Make a grocery list

Put groceries away

Arrange refrigerator and pantry

 Baking

Prepare a simple recipe

Entertaining self while waiting – car ride, waiting room, waiting in line

 Caring for the sick

First aid basics

Sewing

 Bike day
Close Town Hall Meeting Would you rather: Be the “real” you, but everyone dislikes you; or Be a “fake” version of yourself, but everyone loves you? What’s your top priority right now: Preparing for your next adventure, Relationship (yourself, parent, friend, Hobby (film, basketball, rowing), Something else? Why? Have you found the process of thinking about your next adventure…: Stressful; Liberating? Why? What do you find most difficult about identifying your next adventure; Identifying what you really want; Fear of failure; Appeasing your friends and family; Something else?

Upcoming Week 3: June 17-21, 2019

Week 3

Caring for the Environment

 Setting the table

Washing dishes

Taking out the trash

Organizing shelves

Keeping the bathroom clean

 Sweeping

Wet mopping

Dust mopping

Watering plants

Outdoor sweeping

Recycling

 Exhibition Quest Reflections Last Day of School

Carnival celebration

 

It All Connects!

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Last quest the ES and MHS heroes showed incredible grit and perseverance during the Architecture Quest. Through the creation of elevation sketches, blueprints and more, the heroes completed their final product, a future Journey Academy Design floor plan. Some even went as far as to include interior and exterior design.

As we are in the middle of our Life Skills Quest, we had the wonderful opportunity to take part with the community for Amanda Browder’s Project 1 fabric installation. There, the heroes saw elevation sketches from the artist’s plans, learned how to pin and sew fabric together, all while making an impact on the community.

It is beautiful to see how God brings together the discoveries these heroes have been encountering all year. It All Connects!

 

Learning that Leads to Action

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The heroes jumped right into action as they began their final quest of the year, the Life Skills Quest. They immediately applied what they learned when they got home and tied their own shoelaces without Mom or Dad’s help. They really worked hard at remembering their addresses and phone numbers when they practiced making emergency phone calls. They had fun playing a dress-up relay game even in their struggles with lining up buttons on a shirt and tying shoelaces. They even helped sort the “laundry” and folded them afterward. And they really valued the importance of learning safety habits and self-defense skills. Learning to care for themselves and do things independently empowered the heroes, giving them even more confidence to learn new life skills next week that would enable them to care for others.

Week 1: June 3-7. 2019

Launch Who has a goal for learning to learn, do, or be that you would like to get started on for this session? And what tool will you use to achieve that goal? When you reflect on your incredible progress this year, which was the most important factor in helping you achieve your goals: setting SMART goals every day? Or was it support from the friends? What is most important for your learning?

Learning to Learn with Core Skills, Learning to Do with Quests, or Learning to Be through developing the character traits? Why?

 What are some ways you can improve on your goals? Is it making it more specific? Measurable? Attainable? Relevant? Time-bound? Enjoyable? Rewarding? What is the hardest thing about making excellent SMARTER Goal?
Relaunch What skills are important to learn in life? Why? Name a good habit that helped you in life. How will you help your family create an emergency plan? ES Buddies What is your favorite food group? What do you believe is the most important food group?
Project time

Caring you yourself

 Dressing with buttons, snaps, hook and eye, zipper, buckle, bow, lacing, safety pins Etiquette and good manners

Choosing own clothes to wear

Dress and undress self

Laundry – putting clothes away, folding clothes

 Know your address and phone number

Know how to make emergency calls

 Team building skills

Skittles game

 ABCs of Self-Defense

Avoid danger

Breathe and be calm

Communicate with confidence
Close Town hall meeting What is the biggest challenge you have faced at school? Which challenges are the most important for your growth this year? What part of your year are you most satisfied with? What part would you like to change?

Would you challenge yourself more or less?

 Is it better to live life as: A steady challenge, where you plug away consistently at important projects?

Life in sprints, where you give everything you have for a project for a few weeks, then you take a vacation?

Upcoming Week 2: June 10-14. 2019

Project time

Caring for others

 Caring for the sick

First aid basics – choking, bandaids

Make a grocery list

Put groceries away

Arrange refrigerator and pantry

 Setting the table

Cooking a simple recipe

Pour drinks into a cup

 Nutrition

Make their own lunch

Making a sandwich and toast

Mix, stir, cut with a dull knife

 Entertaining self while waiting – car ride, waiting room, waiting in line

Bike day