Battle cries for each session at Acton Academy are important.  We post them on the front door and refer to them often.  Today the Eagles chose our first battle cry: “Work hard, play hard” in a close vote (“Soar” and “Dream ” were popular too.)

We started today with an evolutionary game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, where winners progress from eggs to chickens to dinosaurs to (finally) kings and queens, acting out each part with wild gestures and animal noises.

Why such a silly game?  Because it’s OK to be yourself at Acton, and sometimes that means acting with great abandon, even if it risks looking silly.

If Eagles are having fun and know it’s OK to be themselves, they’ll do anything to remain at Acton.  Even work harder at learning than they’ve ever worked before.

Next Eagles worked in teams to build the tallest, most profitable and most beautiful Lego tower (reportedly the most popular experience at Harvard Business School orientation.)

Why such a challenge?  To learn that teamwork matters.  And to experience making difficult cost-benefit decisions under time pressure.  Because someday, our Eagles will have to make these decisions when real lives are on the line.

Finally, we introduced Running Partners to affirm and hold each Eagle accountable during Core Skills work in journalling, choosing favorite books and which books to read next and bearing down on math with Khan Academy. Because hard work matters too.

As we learn to work in Running Partner pairs of 2 to 3; Squads of 3 to 4; Discussion Pods of 8; Teams of 12 and a Tribe of 24 Eagles, important and complex 21st century collaboration skills are being absorbed, as if they were a natural part of life.

Having fun is job #1.  Working hard follows.  So does having a Running Partner who cares enough to hold you accountable and affirm you, through those inevitable dips and struggles.  All basic building blocks for a healthy learning community.

Still lots to do, but a great start for our 2013-14 Eagle adventure.