Heroes Chronicle Archive

Session 7, Week 2 In the Fire Studio this week, heroes enjoyed watching a video of Zion Williamson practicing his vertical jump. They commented on his ability to get higher with each jump if he’s measuring his results. When he can see the outcome, he can tell what...

Session 7 Week 1 Being away from home, sleeping in a tent (some for the first time), getting dirty with no showers, being surrounded by other young people 24/7 X 4, being challenged to go outside of your comfort zone and do hard things... Survival Camp is hard for...

Session 6, Week 5 Growing up one of my dad's favorite movies was The Blues Brothers. While my mom had no real use for that movie, us kids were always ecstatic when Dad found it playing on the T.V. We would snuggle in with him, laugh hysterically and after the most...

Session 6, Week 4 Every year is different. Different journeys, different quests, different challenges, and the heroes abilities and struggles change so much in a year. However, after 4 years, as spring time rolls around, and the end of the year approaches, we can now...

Session 6, Week 3 Before 1848 young people were taught with all ages together, by one teacher in one room. From 1848-1870 America started adopting the educational systems they saw in Europe. Part of the change was separating children into different age groups. While...

Session 6, Week 2 As we sat in the rotunda of the Capitol building for the Elementary School Constitution Bee, the keynote speaker asked an opinion question. Two children from two other schools raised their hand to answer, and 7 out of 8 of our heroes raised their...

Session 6, Week 1 As Spark and Fire Studio heroes came back to school for Session 6, they were welcomed into a Detective Quest. Among other things, this quest will focus on noticing and observation. Following suite, here is what we noticed and observed as guides this...

Session 5, Week 6 Last year the Spark heroes learned and performed an epic song titled "The Golden Rule." The heroes sang questions such as "How does it feel when someone takes the time to get to know you?", "How does it feel when someone offers you a helping hand?",...

Session 5, Week 5 During our 3rd Parent Night this past Thursday, we (parents) practiced being "comfortable with the uncomfortable." We shared our thoughts about hard questions such as motivation, excellent work, overwhelm, the heroes' system of self governance and...

Session 5, Week 4 "I forgot." "I can't remember." "Nothing." As I look around each day and see all the incredible, challenging, meaningful and fun work the heroes are engaged in, I am amused and stunned (and sometimes even sad) by the responses parents get to the...

Session 5, Week 3 I don't like chocolate. Never have. As I got older, I recognized an intolerance to dairy. And nuts, I like them a lot, but they definitely don't belong in ice cream! No chocolate? No dairy? No nuts? Most people do not want to share ice cream with me!...

Session 5, Week 2 On the night my daughter came to me 5 years ago and asked me to start an Acton Academy, I asked her what we should call it? Her immediate reply was "CHOICE, because choice has two meanings and it will mean both of those." Choice as in: "an act of...

Session 5, Week 1 No matter the philosophy, I think all schools should adopt the 6-week session followed by a one-week break schedule. It's a long enough session to have time to focus and develop ideas and short enough to sprint/work hard most of the time. The week...

Session 4, Week 6 Exhibition week: The conclusion of collaborative and individual hard work - beautifully showcased and presented. The last minute touches on models, plays, posters, presentations, pitches, and items to sell. The finishing of papers and badges and...

Session 4, Week 5 I had a meeting this week during the school day which took me away from the building. As I got in my car, Celebration was playing on the radio. I drove away thinking of all that we have to celebrate. Something I have celebrated a lot this week is our...