Discovery Learners Explore Cultures, Conversations, and Creativity (Session 1, Week 4)

Hello parents, learners, families, and friends!

I’m so excited to share this newsletter—it’s my first one of the year! Let’s jump right in.

Writer’s Workshop

We started the year with our Hero Board project, something we always do at the beginning of a new year. Each learner created a board that represents their life—they could include challenges they’ve faced, goals they’re working toward, or things they love. Once everyone finished their boards, we moved on to our next phase: Conversation Writer’s Workshop.

What does that mean? In this workshop, we’re exploring what makes for meaningful and engaging conversations. We watched interviews and examples of real conversations, then reflected and wrote about what we learned. We’re excited to begin our final challenge next week!

Quest: Culture Quest

This session’s quest is all about exploring cultures from around the world! Learners even had the chance to create their own challenges to help others learn about their culture.

On Tuesday and Thursday, everyone worked in their quest groups using a game board filled with cultural challenges—like crafts, dances, art, and music—from all over the world. Some of these activities were even designed by the learners themselves!

One group’s challenge involved cooking, so on Friday they invited all of Discovery to join in. Ella E., Emma C., Aviya, Ofri, and Yahli L. led the activity—we made hamantaschen and enjoyed matzah with Nutella. It was such a fun and delicious experience! Other learners are already thinking up new ideas for future quest projects.

Other Highlights

This week, we also had fun in art, where learners created imaginative animal projects. During our Monster Challenge, we reflected on the “monsters” we face in our lives. And in PE, we headed to the park to play games and enjoy the fresh air together.

That’s all for this week! Have a wonderful weekend, and we’ll see you next week for more learning and fun!

Ready to learn more? Apply to join our learner-driven community.

Located in Closter, NJ, Acton Academy Bergen County offers an immersive, studio-based learning experience.

Learn about our learner-driven approach and how we guide real-world growth through mastery-based education.