This year, our Overarching Question is: “Does the past determine the future?”  We’ll explore whether heroes are born or made, how chemistry predicts elemental outcomes and whether political campaigns divide or unite.

We started our first week in middle school  Learning to Learn, Learning to Do and Learning to Be as individual heroes. In two weeks, we expect to be forged into a powerful tribe.

This week, Eagles dug deeply into a Hero’s Essay writing challenge, answering Who am I?; What do I promise? and Who do I want to become?  Each also reflected on how to overcome resistance, distraction and victimhood.

We also launched the Acton Network Film Fest, a music video competition open to over 100 Acton Academies around the world, as well as started drafting our studio contracts.

Friday afternoon featured our  Giant Hamster Wheel Contest, with teams of Acton Launchpad, middle school and elementary Eagles competing to conjure duct tape and paper into a contraption to propel the winning team across campus.

What happens when Launchpadders, middle schoolers and six year olds take on a difficult challenge?  Judge for yourself.

Today, over 100 Eagles competed to build hamster wheels to propel their team across campus.  The catch?  Only paper, rolls of duct tape and scissors were allowed.

Spirits were high, with Eagles using words like “friendship”, “friendliness”, and “teamwork” to describe what team would need to win.

Before long, hamster wheels started to emerge, along with proof of the power of multi-aged studios.

Cheers rang out; then came an unexpected threat of rain; some wheels began to self-destruct.  A few less inspiring words were exchanged as tension mounted.   No Hero’s Journey is without an unexpected obstacle or two.

Encouragement mixed with frustration led to new experiments and strategies.  Sometimes the best ideas came from the youngest heroes on the field.

Who won?  The threatening weather.  The contest was called on account of lightning. In the real world, unexpected setbacks happen.

The good news?  The debrief was abuzz with energy.  Eagles of all ages are even more excited to charge together towards the grand adventures  ahead.