Week 30: Behavioural economics, community, and an anniversary

We came back together after our Easter Break and dove head first into the next challenge on our E-Ship Quest - exploring "Identity Island"! The goal of this island is to create a brand for our businesses and to gain insight into customer behaviours.

We analyzed commercials from various lemonade companies; one featured bumblebees and images of flowers, another had a funny cartoon "sour puss" cat, and the last cast a hip young DJ spinning and polishing their cans on the production line. We pondered - what were they trying to tell us about their product? Which appealed most to you and why? In doing so, it became clear that the identity of a company can greatly influence our purchasing decisions. How could we apply this knowledge to our own businesses for the E-Ship mini-market? Over the course of the week we used this newly acquired knowledge to create logos and draw out our booth designs, taking into consideration decor, colours, and our personal presentation. The excitement about their businesses and the upcoming market are palpable, and I cannot wait to see all of these elaborate booths some have commissioned their dads to build for them ;)

When not working on their businesses these young entrepreneurs continued to progress through their core skills work (reading, writing, and math) in the mornings, with long stretches of time spent outdoors engaged in unstructured free play, enjoying the spectacular weather we've had all week.

Town Hall continues to be a passionate and powerful tool in the studio. This week, the two main topics were (1) saving spaces for people, in lines or at the circle rug - should it be allowed or not? and (2) a proposal for school uniforms. For the first item of business, the person who brought forth the issue provided her reasoning as to why she did not feel saving spaces should be allowed. The floor was then opened up to others to comment on whether they agree or disagree and to provide their reasoning. The subject may seem trivial to a casual observer, but not only is it important to them, this exercise is also giving them power to create their culture, their mini civil-society, and also weekly practice in the skill of effectively and clearly articulating their reasoning in a convincing manner. Also, the important skill of listening to people who disagree with you with an open mind, and responding in a civil manner. In the end, the group voted to allow for saving spaces. The next order of business was school uniforms! Two of our older learners brought forth the proposal and we went around discussing their "why" (school pride, it looks nice, solves the issue of someone not having weather appropriate clothes (apparently there would be spares on hand!), etc). The guides pressed - "but what if someone likes to express themselves through their clothing? Would this stifle their personal expression?" The solution this group came up with? Patches! We could sew patches on the uniforms....rainbows, guinea pigs, ice cream....problem solved! The guides pressed more - "but how will we pay for the uniforms?" Fundraising! Bottle drives, Jump-A-Thons, bake sales...the ideas were flowing. In the end, we decided this was a big decision and would require more discussion, so we agreed to continue debating the pros and cons next week. To be continued.....

It's hard to wrap my head around the fact that there are only seven weeks left in our inaugural year here at Acton Academy Nanaimo. Yesterday marked one year since we took possession of this magical space and my weekend has been spent deep in reflection and gratitude, for this transformative journey and the incredible families who've joined us along the way.

"We don't accomplish anything in this world alone... and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one's life and all the weavings of individual threads form one to another that creates something." Sandra Day O'Connor