Launchpad Learners Explore Leadership, Debate Destiny, and Visit Tevaland Animal Sanctuary (Session 1, Week 4)

Welcome to the fourth Launchpad Newsletter of the year!

Last week, we did a lot of research and took notes for Genre and Quest, and this week, we put that information to use. 

During Quest, we created presentations on the differences between a non-profit leader and a for-profit leader in preparation for Tuesday’s field trip to Tevaland. On Tuesday, we used our visit to Tevaland to learn a lot more about non-profit leadership, like the challenges that come with not earning a profit. On Wednesday, we reflected on our experience and what we learned at Tevaland, and accepted the challenge to fundraise or get certain items for Tevaland. 

Thursday, we moved from focusing on non-profit leadership to public leadership to prepare for the mayor’s visit next week. Similarly, on Friday, we researched religious leadership to ready ourselves for Father Bishoy’s visit next week as well. 

On top of this, we had our team building quest just like every other week, instead of playing poker, though, we decided to change up the beat and play bridge. Although some of us thought it would be a bit boring, it actually turned out to be very fun!

For Genre, we used more of the information we gathered last week on whether our past determines our future, and on Monday, we had another debate, though this time with different partners. 

On Tuesday, we started the big project for this session: our “Does our past determine our future” essay. We spent the entire week working on our rough draft and finalized it on Friday. 

During Civ, we researched the different sides in the American Revolution. We looked at loyalists, radicals, moderates, and neutralists, all who held different views and reasons for those views. We also discussed the causes which led to the start of the American Revolution, as well as whether the American Revolution was inevitable or just a lot of misunderstandings and miscommunications. 

We also did a lot of NGA work this week. On Tuesday, we planned what paying jobs we could get after finishing or getting good at our chosen deliberate practices from last week. On Wednesday, we planned our budget, focusing on how much money we would spend, and the time that we’d have for resting based on the job we’d chosen. Thursday, we planned what we could realistically do now, either after school, for Apprenticeship, or both. Finally, on Friday, we pitched the plans we made throughout the week to make sure they were all realistic. 

On Tuesday, we visited Tevaland, an animal sanctuary that rescues abused animals. We met a lot of these animals and gave them our time so that they could grow more comfortable around humans. Although these animals were very cute and cool, they weren’t the main focus of the visit. Instead, we focused on non-profit leadership and how Tevaland supports animals without making a profit. 

I thought this week was much more fun than some of the other weeks, mostly because of the cute animals, but everything was pretty fun this week. Thank you for reading, and see you next week!

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.