A ritual is something special worth repeating, worth feeling, worth remembering. It may be an annual event, daily activity, or special practice every now and then tied to the season, action, or an event. In the words of American author Starhawk “Ritual affirms the common patterns, the values, the shared joys, risks, sorrows and changes that bind a community together. Ritual links together our ancestors and descendants, those who went before with those who will come after us.”

The final weeks of a session can be thrilling, nerve-wracking, and full of last minute to-do’s! Highs and lows equally abound and it’s this mix of emotions and actions that I believe make the journey of Acton for our heroes truly worth it. Learners are feeling their push towards ending the session and their need to complete a Core Skills badge for the Productivity Pizza challenge, master a material, or to get the star badge for Quest Excellence. Each child has their list of to-dos and it’s our parental job to check in, not to push, but simply love. This can be hard! The week and always night before an exhibition can be pretty intense for many parents (myself included) as we support our heroes. As much as our children are feeling the whirlwind we too experience the emotional rollercoaster. As we move into these final days I’d like to remind you why it matters how we parents choose to respond.

Although we live in the dairy state of Wisconsin bursting with farms full of livestock, corn, and more, many of us are not all too familiar with the process of herding sheep. Sure, I may think about sheep as I count these caricatures in bed or sing Old McDonald but other than these ideas of farm animals I personally don’t think about sheep often. Sheep and their helpers, sheepdogs, are an important concept when growing a community at Acton. This concept is so important that the sheepdog reference is a key part of the Acton network lingo of choice words. Just as we’ve become accustomed to using the word learner rather than student or reference the role of Captain or Pirate in the studio, the word sheepdog is a recent addition to our daily Acton lingo.

Sometimes reinventing the wheel is silly and today I’d like to honor and highlight the words of Laura Sandefer, co-founder and Chief Encourager of Acton Academy. She wrote a regular blog to support parents much like our newsletter and today I’d like to share her thoughts with you here. The title of her post dated June 22, 2017 is What Authority Do Parents Have At Acton Academy? Simply replace Eagles with our Owls and relate your journey to many families before you. Laura brilliantly writes:

“The monsters were never under my bed. Because the monsters were inside my head. I fear no monsters, for no monsters I see. Because all this time the monster has been me.” This poem by Nikita Gill highlights the revelation that every hero must experience. Monsters are mysterious, scary, and are created by feeding on our deepest fears. At Acton we’ve identified key monsters that tend to emerge for both learners and Guides. Naming the monster is the first step to knowing how to battle. Words matter.

The boom of the drum has sounded. As the drum’s resonance echos it makes room for sounds of the whistle of the wind, chirping of the birds, distant owl hoot, and your heart beat. This is what learners heard this Tuesday at the start of the Indigenous People Quest. Although the drum is merely an instrument its symbolic power is much like the drum we feel when adventure calls. The call to adventure is the first step for every hero. Before going on a great journey finding travelers, dragons, and treasure the hero must first feel the pull of the drum’s invitation, a resounding question “Do I want to find out, do I want to try?”

This week at Acton has been messy. Literally the floor has been full of food wrappers, papers, binders, ribbon, game pieces, and even iPads. In the past I and our Guides have reminded, helped, picked up the slack, but this week we have been committed to embracing the mess. How will learners learn to appreciate their materials, their studio, their work, and their freedoms if adults steal their responsibility? If we adults at Acton clean up after learners and consistently poke them with reminders, are learners truly learning? Is the final product or the process most important?

“I throw wishes into the night and wait for the stars to catch them.” – Christy Ann Martine

When you look above at the vast sky full of stars and a jubilant moon what do you feel, what do you think, what do you wish? Most nights whether I am stargazing with my children or whether I am alone I take a moment and stand in awe. The big beautiful sky is full of uncertainty and great beauty. I breathe in and simply gaze. This week learners stargazed while inside the Barlow Planetarium however did you know that besides a field trip adventure you too can stargaze any time day or night? It’s true. There are these magical stars full of great energy and depth that move and change daily. These stars are bright with a great light, they are our genius children!

“Why does Discovery have more freedom? It isn’t fair that they can choose to be inside during recess and we can’t.” These were the wise words of a 5 year old Spark learner early on this session. This 5 year old saw and felt great inequity and deeply desired freedom for themselves. At the start of Session 4 Discovery learners were extended the opportunity to freely choose where and when to lunch and where and when to play outside or inside during the hour and a half of the mid day period. Naturally, this new freedom was observed and coveted by Spark learners. After a week of difference between studios and a chance for Discovery to experiment, Spark learners had their chance to feel freedom. For these last 3 weeks there has been a palpable change that is undeniable. By offering the flow of freedom learners appear more joyful, more regulated, and are buzzing with creative energy.

I’ve had a variety of jobs in my past: librarian, teacher, professor, musician, camp bus driver, event planner, retail sales associate, administrator, security guard, usher. Of all the jobs of my past I currently have one job that has demanding hours, challenging customers, ongoing professional development, physical, mental, and emotional stress, and although exhausting this job has been the most fulfilling. This isn’t my role as Acton’s Director it’s my job as parent and Mom. The role of a parent is both laborious and glorious and the toughest job I’ve ever had the privilege to hold.

The journey of an Acton parent is equalling rewarding and challenging. One of the most treasured parts of our community is our parent network and their stories of experience. Stories are absolute treasure that pave the way for new families and echo learning from fellow traveler parents. Knowing that someone else is on the same arduous journey as you is a magical mirror and support system. Last week I received the following email letter from a brave Spark learner Mom named Kelly. Her family’s Acton journey began last Fall 2022 and has been rich with learning. When I received her email I had tears in my eyes and felt the value of her contribution. With her permission, I’d like to share her story with you today as perhaps you’ve been wondering if creating space for your learner to follow their own journey without your push is worth it.

As learners begin this session’s Space Quest I’ve found a parallel universe with the concept of space and the current freedoms to move at Acton. Space is defined as a continuous area or expanse which is free and available to explore. During this January’s camp we experimented and explored flow, freedom, and space and because of the positive experience of camp Guides and I wondered: Are learners ready for greater freedom at Acton without explicitly proving they are ready? So, just like camp, we extended our experiment and offered freedom to Discovery learners during the lunch and recess time block.

This past week I met with a cluster of Acton leaders in the Midwest and the question that was asked was “What aha’s or big learning have you had recently?” I shared that my big aha was the difference between the feeling of camp and the feeling of school. School often feels lovely and busy while camp exudes peace and oodles of creative flow. I learned that slowing time and allowing greater freedom and learner messiness in camp is where the magic lives. We all want to live in a world that is magical so naturally my next question is “How can every day at Acton have this magical flow of time?

There’s a book called Same, Same But Different by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw that tells a beautiful story of two pen pals. One lives in America and one in India. Their worlds might look different but they are actually similar. We’ve read this many times at Acton and this story reminds me of camp life. Camp at Acton is the same as school but different. Here’s a clue into the camp life you may have been hearing snippets about and why we feel camp is a special and experimental adventure!

What makes Acton special? This is a question I’m often asked by curious and slightly skeptical community members. There are so many ways to answer this question however one is the pursuit of entrepreneurship. Learners pursue entrepreneurship not just in idea generation and an end of session business fair. They practice the process of planning, teamwork, systems, and embracing failure. Learning to fail hard, fail often, and fail cheaply is an essential life skill that’s best to have when the stakes are low and the learning is high.

Learn to learn, learn to do, learn to be. This is a common Acton phrase and a tagline we have framed on the wall that learners pass by every day. During a Guide squad meeting this past Tuesday this Acton phrase came up. One Guide shared “I always forget the order and want to say do first.” I shared that remembering will be easy once you understand the connection of the words. I’d like to share this thought with you too in case you’ve wondered the why behind this tagline.

“Good intentions are like magic.” —butterflies rising

Monday morning I practiced my favorite activity: observing learners. I set my computer and notebook in front of me and while rarely touching them I tracked the habits of Discovery learners. It was the first Monday after an adventurous break and therefore the habits and productivity of the studio were incredibly low. Left and right learners were abusing their guardrails, taking excessive breaks, collaborating with friends without purpose, and many were actively distracting. The energy was a buzz for sure and for a handful it was purposeful but for many it was like a bee swarm of goofiness.

17, November 1560

Dearest Parental Readers,

There is a noble lady from another kingdom named Lady O who every year is abundantly generous and offers lavish treasures to members for no effort at all. Her past gifting in this wizard clip was most extravagant and although generous in action goes against our Acton kingdom’s values. In the kingdom of Acton members value hard work and practice honoring the journey above all, regardless of outcome. An Acton hero only finds treasure when they find themselves whether that be the lesson of learning to be a hero that pushes through a challenge or a hero who was not ready for the journey this time.

10, November 1560

Dearest Parental Readers,

Just like the turn of the tide the Acton kingdom has made a considerable turn in attitude these last few weeks of Fall. I am excited to report that gone are the ways of the grumbling peasants and in their place are now craftspeople and nobles exuding pleasure and passionate work ethic. Looking back to the first days of the Acton kingdom I recall many peasants expressing their feelings of enslavement, punishment, and their plans to rebel against the entire Renaissance process. Do you remember hearing through the ton or at your quiet home village the words of “I can’t believe we have to clean! We are peasants and they don’t even call us by our name! Noble Guides are so mean, they make us do everything! When will this abuse stop?” How quickly a few days changed the tune of each peasant and now nearly at the finish of our RenQuest festival the words of the learners were this: “I can’t wait for tomorrow, I can’t wait to work on my crafts and become a noble!” “My favorite days are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday because I love Quest days!” “It’s so much fun being a lady and talking in an English accent.”

3, November 1560

Dearest Parental Readers,

The Acton kingdom is swirling with excitement of the young playwright William Shakespeare and his variety of theatrical works. His recent tragic story of Prince Hamlet has inspired both action and thought in the Discovery and Spark households. Shakespeare’s soliloquy states “To be, or not to be, that is the question.” This question poses the idea of how to live. Just as Shakespeare’s words beg the question of life I urge you, my most honorable parental readers, to consider this question: To be or not to be involved? What does parental involvement, true engagement in being look and feel like?