Week 33: Civility, kindness, and gratitude.

In any Acton studio you will find many tools and systems being implemented simultaneously. Whether it's the daily schedule, Freedom Levels, progress charts, or the Town Hall jar. One tool we use at Acton to assess the health of our studio culture is the "ICEE Framework". This framework is used to help categorize and pinpoint areas of concern so that action can be taken.

The math and reading challenges we ran a few weeks ago increased intentionality in the studio during core skills blocks and infused energy into subjects some were resisting. Similarly, we recognized the need to bring awareness to the civility in our growing studio. As more personalities enter the mix more conflicts arise, pointing to the need for launches and challenges that would equip these young people with the skills and tools they need to communicate calmly, clearly, and empathetically during moments of conflict. Enter Morgan, our Discovery Studio guide! Morgan created a "Kind Energy Vibes" challenge for our studio, with each day focusing on a different skill that would help infuse our environment with kind energy. On Monday we spoke about the various tools in our personal tool box - patience, empathy, self-control, humour....and the things that can remove tools from our personal tool box; hunger, fatigue, confusion, anger, etc. Lastly, we brainstormed what can help add a tool to our friend's toolbox - kind tone, support, advice, encouragement. Morgan ended by presenting the group with affirmation bracelets. Each hero was tasked with choosing one that resonated most with how they felt about themselves, because loving ourselves and speaking kindly to ourselves is one of the most important things we can do to help create a culture of kindness.

Everyone jumped at the chance to choose their bracelet and once they finished decorating it, added their creation to a chain which would continue to grow throughout the remainder of the week, as more affirmation bracelets were handed out.

On Tuesday Morgan read a beautiful story about exclusion and inclusion, "Strictly No Elephants".

In it, a young boy with an unusual pet (an elephant!) is excluded from the neighbourhood pet club. He finds there are other children who've also been excluded due to their "strange" pets (skunks, giraffes, narwhals, penguins) and they decide to start their own pet club, open to all! Before long, even those who had previously excluded them were drawn to this warm, welcoming, inclusive club...and were welcomed with open arms. After we read this story we discussed the options available to us when confronted with injustice or conflict. We can Speak Up, Stand Up, or Walk Away. Morgan closed the discussion with a call to action; when confronted with conflict, will you speak up, stand up, or walk away?

After core skills and a break for time in nature, Morgan then introduced the group to the next phase of our challenge - charging our batteries daily through various group and independent activities. First up was Fire Day; charging our energy of warmth and compassion. The group was introduced to a recipe for offering a warm-toned suggestion to their peers and then, as a group, armed with fire and ice paddles, role playing and voting on one another's delivery of warm toned suggestion using a clear recipe. Fire = met all requirements, ice = needed improvement.

Other challenges through the day were adding an idea to the Peace Table book (something that helps you calm your body when upset) and reading from a selection of stories about conflict resolution.

Wednesday was Water Day; charging our battery of respect and friendship. Divided into teams of three and dressed in fun costumes, teams split off to practice and then present skits from well-known fairy tales (Peter Pan, Cinderella, Three Pigs, etc) that involved conflict between two main characters, and a mediator stepping in to help facilitate peaceful resolution. The challenge was to present the situation as shown in the fairy tale, then, with the help of the mediator, using scripts with "I feel" statements, to help change the course of the story. The group enjoyed this so much, we decided to deepen the exercise by doing the same, but using real issues we may face in our studio.

The final day of our challenge was Leaf Day; charging our energy of growth and change. This day was all about embracing mistakes as part of growth, offering authentic apologies, and finding a way to make it right when we've committed a wrong. As part of this challenge we role played offering an apology using a clear recipe; "I'm sorry I (action) Next time I will (heroic action). Can I (solution that makes amends)?" Example, "I'm sorry I took that book, I didn't realize you were still reading it. Next time I'll ask first. Can I help you find the page you were on?"

Afterwards, we each wrote down an example of an apology we were given or a hypothetical scenario where we may need to give an apology following this rubric. These were then displayed on our wall in our studio as a reminder to all of us of the power of an apology, and a reminder that we all make mistakes; the test of a true hero is how we respond afterwards.

These heroes are quick adopters, and it was heartwarming to see these tools and scripts being used in real time during the week. We even heard stories of this dialogue being used at home to settle conflict between family members!

Interspersed throughout our week, in addition to the daily Kindness Energy challenges, we also celebrated some of our summer birthday heroes! Making heartfelt cards, seeing photos from each year of their life, and whispering a special wish for their year ahead has become something we all look forward to, and we didn't want anyone to miss out.

And if that all wasn't enough, Morgan also planned an after-hours information session for our upcoming Discovery Studio heroes and their families! On Thursday at 3pm the studio transformed into a walkable tour through Discovery Studio life. Morgan set up stations for Quests, Communications, Civilization, Socratic Discussion, Town Hall.....and many more of the different and exciting elements of life in an Acton Discovery Studio. Heroes and their families had the chance to engage in challenges at each station, working their way through "Discovery Studio Bingo" to earn a prize at the end. The studio was buzzing with excited and inquisitive energy as groups moved from station to station, engaging in games and learning experientially about what awaits them in September.

By 4:45, Morgan had everything tucked away and the studio put back together, as though it had never happened. As I locked the doors and walked to my car, I was filled with a deep sense of gratitude; for Morgan, for her incredible dedication and commitment to these heroes, to their journey, and to creating a world-class Acton Discovery Studio experience for them. We are so lucky to have her on this journey with us.

"We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives."

John F. Kennedy

Morgan, thank you!!