Week 4 started with the Discovery Falcons visiting Acton Verona. Many of the learners played team-building games with the Verona learners and made new friends. On the same day, they visited Sasha's mom's business. They learned about how Lina started her Optometry business and heard about the struggles and obstacles she faced that led her to where she is now. As part of the experience, some learners tested and took pictures of their eyes in order to determine their eye health. Through this, they learned about the different parts of the eye and how their eyes differ from someone with unhealthy eyes.
Back on campus, the learners engaged in an exciting launch related to lost money and honesty. The launch began by asking the learners to take a guess on how many wallets they thought would be returned out of 200 wallets dropped in public places. Many learners speculated that a high percentage of the wallets would be returned, which warmed my heart. The learners then watched Mark Rober's video, which tested out this idea in a real-world experiment, tracking all sorts of interesting variables like where the wallet was dropped (average income level), the gender of the finder, and the age of the finder, etc. Watch the video to see if the learners were right!
During Writers Workshop, the learners worked on their memoirs. Many have finished brainstorming about the significant events in their lives and began working on their drafts.
Finally, this week, the learners also discussed the topic of courage, which was sparked by learning about the first American to cross Antarctica. Learners shared their own stories of when they were courageous and, at the same time, what holds them back in life. One learner shared her insecurities about only wanting to do easy things and how she realizes she needs to start setting more challenging goals for herself.