Written by: Adhishri, Anya and Yatharth
Photos and interviews by: Jasmine and Sai Sidharth
“Curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning”- William Arthur Ward
It is the first day of the session after a long week of break. Young, curious warriors rush into the doors, jumping with eagerness, and loquaciously greeting their friends again. As the clock strikes 8:30, a group of young heroes gather for morning launch to discuss the quality of gratitude.
They launch into a week filled with tons of hands-on learning and excitement-filled action. The entire studio is buzzing with energy. Walk into ES, and there will be curious, smiling faces, (although their faces are covered with masks ツ) and much collaboration between warriors occurring.
"Something positive about ES is that the people are grateful for the people around them, and they are always them," said an elementary warrior. Just like Monday mornings when you have to wake up early after a long weekend, every session, the first week back may get tiring for many warriors. However, most ES warriors we talked to exclaimed how they were looking forward to the upcoming weeks and confirmed the studio's speculation of high energy.
Our elementary studio is a great example of self-driven learning, where learners are given opportunities to have hands-on experiences. All the quests are designed to provoke the heroes to be as curious as possible. When we interviewed an ES warrior, he said, “All the quests that we have, helped me find my calling, but I haven't found one yet!”
Imagine it is a scorching, hot summer day. An idea pops in your head, and you decide to open a lemonade stand. It is a spontaneous and brilliant idea, which can carve out an opportunity to make plenty of money. Well, in this session, the ES warriors have an Entrepreneurship Quest (AKA “E-ship Quest), where they embark on a journey to create their own business. In this “E-Ship” quest, warriors travel across a game board to various islands where they explore significant concepts and questions, slowly building up to the Children's Business Fair's final exhibition.
The objective of this "E-ship" quest is to allow warriors to grasp an understanding of entrepreneurship and for them to launch and sell a business at the CBF. Children from the ages of 5-15 are making their own products, advertising, and selling the products at their very own booth on the day of the Children's Business Fair! Some of them are selling homemade candles, handmade paper, food items, and organic lotions and perfumes.
Let's go back to the sweet and refreshing lemonade, topped with ice cubes and a piece of lemon. Imagine you are in the same position again. You decide to sell lemonade and have made your final recipe after hours of practice and trials. You have set up your wooden table with a yellow and white striped overhead covering, and your delicious lemonade is placed in a giant jug. Yet, no one seems to be coming to your booth.
Now, what could you be missing? You need something to advertise your business and grab the attention of possible customers, such as a sales pitch! Along with this “E-ship” quest, the warriors will write business pitches for their very own businesses. That is going to be their Writers Workshop. This week, they explored the following question: Why is advertising a powerful tool for a business? Is it to reach more customers, create a powerful image, or define a message?
Core Skills! The most exuberant part of the day! During Silent CS, the warriors are silently working hard, focusing on their studies, and accomplishing their goals. If even a tiny peep is uttered, they are not afraid to hold their friends up to the standards!
The ES studio is mainly known for its ability to collaborate with older and younger warriors. How many times have you been frustrated after failing to teach something to someone of a different age? Every day, you will see the ES studio flowing with excitement and collaboration buzz! While working in small and big groups with warriors of various ages, they are able to guide each other through challenges.
Major Highlights:
-In Civilization, these 2nd-5th graders are learning about how one of the most significant civilizations grew: China
-Warriors are coming up with all sorts of ideas for their businesses. They are producing handmade textured paper with natural items, opening their own game shops, creating stress relieving toys, crafting bookmarks, selling potted plants, and many more.
- Warriors are learning new sports such as hockey and kickball. Moreover, they are learning cool and new tricks with rib sticks.
-3 warriors have finished all badges in elementary and have moved on to work on their Independent Learner Binders, a key milestone for the transition from elementary to middle school.
-ES Warriors sent out surveys to many people to get feedback on their business ideas and pricing.
- For Wednesday morning's launch, the warriors did art and learned to draw from a one-point perspective. Below is one warrior's work.
These past few days certainly have been full of new opportunities and experiences. These warriors have ventured into the unknown, and dealt with new challenges. Next week there will be a new adventure to embrace. Until then, here are some pictures for you to enjoy :-) Namaste!
