Architecture Quest – 3rd week

The third week is behind us and I have loads of updates, as usual.

Back from first suspension:

One of the older Eagles received three strikes. The procedure dictates that after the third strike, the Eagle goes home and returns the next day with a letter explaining what was wrong with what she did, and how she intends to change that behavior in the future. That Eagle was at home for two days and returned to the studio with a moving letter of two and a half pages detailing exactly what her problematic behaviors were, and how she intends to change them in the future. The Eagles voted unanimously for her return to the studio, of course, and this too was a very meaningful act for her. For those who have forgotten, I will remind that, in total, there are four rules in the studio for which the Eagles can get strikes. Therefore, the attitude towards strikes is serious and the Eagles are expected to do the work themselves and understand how they intend to change their behavior in the future.

Architecture quest:

As you can see in the picture at the beginning of the post, the Eagles started transferring their drawings to graph paper. Working on graph paper requires them to choose a scale (for example, every quarter of an inch is equivalent to 2 feet), so that their designs will make sense. Working with a scale is very complicated, especially for the younger ages, and it was very interesting to see the pairs facing this challenge. On the last day of the week, the Eagles that finished the drawings, started building a three-dimensional model of their dream Acton. Before moving to work on the 3D model, the pairs were asked to have the guides approve that their drawings are in order and include the list of minimum requirements that must be present in each Acton (and was delivered to them at the beginning of the work as the Acton Building Code). For example, we discovered that one pair forgot to include restrooms. The Eagles work very seriously on the challenge, and as one of them concluded today: “It’s really not easy to be an architect!”

Art:

The Eagles are now working on three art projects simultaneously: the first is the school sign, which is currently in advanced planning stages. The Eagles decided on a suitable size (which follows the city regulations), and now they are preparing the final draft before making the sign itself. The second quest is a stone decoration. The third quest is a personal wall decoration in the studio. Each Eagle was given a large, thin wooden board, and he would decorate it as he chooses. When the boards are ready, we will decorate the studio walls with them. The three quests are very different from each other, and working on them simultaneously, enables the Eagles to move from one type of artistic work to an entirely different type of artistic work, and they like it very much.

Civilization:

I will soon be dedicating a separate section to civilization studies at Acton because there is quite a lot to write about it. In the meantime, I will tell you briefly that the Eagles study citizenship twice a week for an hour. The method of study is a joint reading of this highly recommended book retelling the story of the world across time and geographies. Then a Socratic discussion or brief activity related to the story we read follows. The Eagles really like to read aloud, therefore, Alden or I divide the chapter into sections in advance and each Eagle reads a certain section aloud (which makes them read aloud a lot and it’s an excellent and very important exercise for them). The Socratic discussions and activities are fascinating and make the Eagles actively process the information. This week I discussed with them the rise of Islam, and I learned a lot from their answers.

That’s it for this time, next week we will start planning our playground, so there is something to look forward to!