Reflections from the First Semester

Wow, fifteen weeks under our belts!  And what a crazy ride it has been for each one of us.  Looking back over this first semester I am overcome with gratitude for so many things.  God was with our little tribe every step of the way – every victorious step and every painful step as well.  We kicked off the year with our ‘Building the Tribe’ learning quest where we spent time getting to know each other and building the systems that would govern us.  The Heroes did a fabulous job of creating their Rules of Engagement and Studio Contract. Much like our founding fathers did at the Constitutional Convention, we too had our own convention of sorts where we debated ideas and principles that we all valued and eventually voted on the documents that govern us.  We then moved onto a very exciting Physics Learning Quest that issued a building challenge each week to our Heroes and culminated in a trip down to Albuquerque to participate in the Balloon Festival. What better way to learn about air pressure, displacement, buoyancy, lift, drag, mass, and gravity than to watch in wonder as hundreds of balloons take off at sunrise.  Wrapping up the semester some of our Heroes took a hunting trip and came home with enough elk to last all winter! And now we rest for Christmas break to evaluate what went well and what needs improvement in our tribe of learners. With grateful hearts we close out this year and look ahead to what God has in the next!