Acton Oath

The arduous journey of developing systems and community seems magically timed with this session’s Chess Quest. Developing Acton studio rules, climbing studio privilege levels, voting of peace keepers, and supporting friends with kind reminders have all been steps preparing learners for this week’s ceremonious event, the Acton Knight oath.  

This week, learners became official Acton Knights and swore an oath to their fellow knights, their Acton kingdom, and most of all to themselves. During our knighting ceremony learners were called one by one onto our giant chess board. Guides asked “Are you ready to commit to Acton knighthood and take the oath?”. With great seriousness learners repeated their oath, kneeled, and were dubbed an Acton knight. Their oath is as follows. 

“Here do I swear by mouth, heart, hand, and blade to shine as a hero for myself and for others. I pledge to learn to learn, learn to do, and learn to be along with my fellow knights of Acton. I pledge to protect and defend the rules of the Acton kingdom and will uphold our rules with kindness and responsibility. All this, I do swear.” 

Guides took turns gracing the shoulders of each learner with our giant golden Acton “A” sword and stated our Guide oath back to the Knights. “On behalf of the Acton kingdom, we do swear to respect and uphold your rights as a Knight of Acton. We pledge to learn from you and guide you when you most need us. All this, we do swear. With the power of the golden blade of Acton, we dub you an Acton Knight. May you be guided by your Acton shield bearing the energy of your color star and spirit animal.”

The energy of pride and honor fills our school! Each knight shield lives at school and sits with originality and beauty on its own self, waiting to protect. This ceremony is part of the magic of our learning process. At Acton, we learn to learn, learn to do, and this week learners learned to BE the honorable Knights of Acton.