Heroes Chronicle Archive

Session 2, Week 4 Acton Academies claim to be starting a revolution. A revolution that is "Turning learning upside down." What does it mean to turn learning upside down? It means creating a learner driven environment. An environment where the learners, not the adults...

Session 2, Week 3 Acton Academies all over the world claim that Learning to Learn, Learning to Do, and Learning to Be are more important than Learning to Know. At CHOICE we propose that Learning to Be is the most important of all. Learning to Be is learning who we...

Session 2, Week 2 What came first, the chicken or the egg? An age-old question which can be argued on either side. Similarly, our school's question of the year can be argued on either side: What has a greater influence on your Hero's Journey: Your mindset or your...

Session 2, Week 1 "Just can't wait to get on the road again!" That was what it felt like as we all arrived for school Monday morning. Heroes were ready and anxious to see one another and get going on their new session! Along with week highlights, here is also a sneak...

Session 1, Week 6 "Reflective thinking turns experience into insight." - John C Maxwell Acton Academies organize their days, weeks, sessions and years into learning arcs. We begin each learning arc with a "launch." A launch is a challenge or discussion that...

Session 1, Week 5 One of my father's favorite poems is "A Builder or a Wrecker" by Charles Franklin Benvegar. The poem asks the question, "Am I builder who works with care, measuring life by the rule and square? Or am I wrecker who walks the town, content with the...

Session 1, Week 4 What is Lip Dub? You may have heard about it. The Lip Dub is an annual worldwide Acton tradition. Heroes spend time choosing a song, choreographing a dance, learning the lyrics to lip sync, filming the production and if you are in the Middle School,...

Session 1, Week 3 "The free exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world." - John Steinbeck It often seems that the older we get the more we lose our ability to explore. One of our overarching goals as a school this year is to...

Session 1, Week 2 Critical components of a learner driven environment are the contracts and promises the heroes make to one another. Because there is not a teacher defining the boundaries and rules, the heroes must do it themselves. Creating contracts and promises is...

After accepting the call to adventure, the hero crosses the threshold and enters the unknown. Whether this week was your first day as a CHOICE hero, your first day as a CHOICE parent, your first day as a CHOICE guide, your first day in a new studio, or simply the...

6/13-6/16 Our last week of school was full of hard work, reflections, and joy. There was so much to celebrate! Throwing water balloons in celebration at the end of the Fire Studio exhibition In the Spark Studio...We started the week with our final P.E. challenge. We...

Last week we had a high school age girl come to visit the Fire Studio as a debate judge. She was here for the hero led quest and stayed through Studio Maintenance. She had been talking about how things generally felt slightly chaotic, but she could actually tell...

5/31-6/3 Not a bit! Although the school year is winding down, the heroes are full of energy and are diving into new works, new quests, and new challenges. In the Spark Studio... Outside time was buzzing with new ideas this week. One hero explored the right ratio of...

5/23-5/26 It's hard to believe we only have one session left! We are ending the year focusing on the heroes' passions. In the Spark Studio... the heroes were challenged to explore their own curiosity this session. Each hero wrote down questions they were curious...

The Bee Gees sang about it, and our heroes taught us how to do it! In the Spark Studio... The heroes taught us parents how to be safe when crossing the street, what plants need to survive, and all about our police officers and fire fighters. While their movie may not...