Discovery: Session 4, Week 5

Session 4 is almost finished, and the learners have been working very hard on their projects. On Monday morning, we had a launch about Nelson Mandela and his hero’s journey. Mandela famously said these words: “ The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” The learners debated whether or not you can be brave and afraid at the same time.

On Wednesday, we were honored to host grandmaster Mackenzie Molner for a hero’s visit. The grandmaster shared with the learner his story of becoming a grandmaster and answered all their questions. At the second half of the visit, he played three simultaneous chess games blindfolded against the learners and won all of them (you can look at the weekly pictures to see a short video of the game). It was an exciting and inspiring visit.

For the writer’s workshop, the learners are recording themselves reading their stories to accomplish their milestones. We watched a video of Lupita Nyong’o reading Sulwe, and we discussed the most critical aspects of a successful read aloud-video.

On Thursday morning, the learners worked hard to clean the woods and their surroundings to make sure the nature around the studio is safe and clean. The learners were very proud of the outcome and enjoyed playing in the woods afterward.

This week for art, the learners worked with plaster wraps. Some of them created a sculpture of their hands, and some decided to make a figurine from aluminum foil and cover it with plaster.

On Friday, the learners started to plan the exhibition, and we can not wait to see you all next Thursday and share all their excellent work.