A morning launch.  Two loaves of bread.  Discussing sacred pledges and falling standards.

An Eagle read aloud from  the Contract of Promises.  Then a reading from the Guide-Eagle Contract on the sworn duty of Guides to act as studio mirrors, making clear any gaps between promises and actions.   Mistakes and missteps may be necessary but they are no excuse for obfuscation – either intentionality in the studio needs to rise or the standards must be explicitly lowered.

Next, a discussion. First holding up the white bread: “What words come to mind when you see this?”

The Eagles: “Ordinary;” “soft;” “cheap;” and “unhealthy.”

Then holding up coarse multi grain bread: ‘What words does this evoke?”

“Special;” “unique;” “healthy” Eagles offered, one by one.

Talk of heroes: Washington; Lincoln;  Colonel Travis at the Alamo; Martin Luther King  in Birmingham.   None of these would have chosen the ordinary Loafer’s Loaf. Real heroes choose from the Worker’s Loaf, no matter what sacrifices are required.

“You have promised to act as heroes; young people around the world are depending on you. Yet recently our intentions seem to have slipped.  What should we do about it?”

Promises flowed. Re-commitments. Pledges.  An invitation was offered: sometime today, take a piece of the Workers Loaf as a sign you are serious about being more intentional in your work.

By the end of the day the Worker’s Loaf was gone, carried off bit by bit.  The Loafers Load left untouched.

It was the final contest of the Regional Mock Trial  Competition.  A real judge called the courtroom to order.

The defendant Adilai Cheney was accused of shooting down a spying drone, sending it crashing into a next door neighbor’s yard, killing her prize dog and best friend Little Pixel Poo Poo.

A crack Acton defense team prepared for weeks to face a corrupt District Attorney’s office staffed not by a drunken DA, but even worse, private school over-achievers.   Cheney’s fate hung in the balance.

The verdict?   Wise people know you go to the courthouse to pick winners and losers, not to find justice.  So it won’t be the Eagles heading to state.

It was a valiant effort.  Especially for rookies against seasoned competitors.

Just wait until next year!

Few Chemists believe Stoichiometry and chocolate chip cookies go together.   After Friday’s cooking challenge, Our MS Eagles know it’s true.

First we offered a series of difficult questions about chemical equations and stoichiometry.  If you solved these, your earned a chocolate chip cookie recipe and the right to buy ingredients.  Each individual had to answer individual questions and each mistake cost five Eagle Bucks, so learning about science early in the week made you a valuable team member.

Two challenges.  First, the recipe was for 40 cookies.  Second, it was stated in cups. Eagles had to translate into a smaller batch of cookies and into grams of ingredients, applying a different cost per ingredient to calculate the overall cost.

Then a team had to reserve and pay for a slot time in the oven.  Reserve a slot too late in the day, and cookie demand might be sated.  Reserve too early in the day, and you might not be ready in time.

Either way, you would have a lot of Eagle Bucks were at risk.  Welcome to our attempt to make Chemistry and Cooking relevant

Most of us in the real world don’t need to know much about chemistry or cooking.  Thanks to modern science and a free economy, you just spray a little Raid on a wasp’s nest to rid yourself of pests or toss a burger on the grill when hungry   Tolerances are high and mistakes are cheap.

Pest control professionals and chefs have a higher standard – they get paid to master a process and get it right every time.   Likewise, those charged with inventing the world’s fastest computer chip or tastiest potato chip need a firm grasp of theory;  trial and error is just too costly and imprecise.

How could we convince Eagles to care about process or theory with such a minuscule impact on their lives?  The answer: make it into a contest with scarce resources, where accuracy and speed matter, and theory leads to a more valuable product.

Yes, it was messy.   And a Guide’s mistake on the answer key didn’t help.  But the studio pulsed with the energy of a high end bakery or Bell Labs, because “getting it right” mattered to the Eagles.

That’s how you turn Chocolate Chip Stoichiometry into an unforgettable scientific and culinary experience, with real world implications for our young heroes.

Eagles run most of our Learner Driven Community at Acton Academy.

Whether it’s studio self-governance and maintenance; Middle Schoolers shepherding Elementary Studio Eagles as Eagle Buddies; or Launchpadders leading Middle School Squads and creating Middle School Quests, there’s a constant stream of Eagles moving from one studio to another throughout the day.

Now Eagles have introduced Launchpad Montessori Quest Guides, where Launchpadders have taken complete responsibility for equipping our youngest Eagles with the tools and habits they need to become independent learners.

How is it working?  Here’s one parent’s take:

“Something has clicked for our son.  He’s feeling so positive about the Montessori Quest.  He begged me to take him to get donuts to bring to school tomorrow for his fellow questers. I asked him why and he said: “it’s because of the new Launchpad Guides.”  I hope they know their kindness is paying dividends already.”

Leading through serving.  Learning through real world responsibility.  Congratulations to our Launchpad Montessori Guides for helping those just starting their Hero’s Journeys.

We know it’s a kindness that will be paid forward for years to come.

We aren’t fans of memorization at Acton Academy.  Einstein’s advice: “Never memorize anything you can look up in a book” is even better counsel in the Internet Age, when world’s of information is a click away.

That said, some information is elemental, so Middle School Eagles jumped at the chance to dive deeply into the Periodic Table, as preparation for this week’s Chemistry and Cooking Challenge.

In Periodic Table Bingo, teams of Eagles competed to cite the atomic number and atomic mass; describe an element as a solid, liquid or gas at room temperature; name common characteristics of the Period and Group where an element was found; give an example of a chemical reaction involving the element; name who discovered it; describe real world uses and draw or create of model of the electron shells and electrons.  Whew!   That’s a lot of information to digest.

The amount of learning and comprehension was beyond belief.  One group of Eagles petitioned to have the next day’s round delayed, so they could spend the even at home preparing.

Useless memorization?  Not at all. All of this work will come in handy when it’s time to compete in the final Chemistry and Cooking Exhibition.

There are few decisions more daunting than purposefully choosing a path in life.

Making a choice means accepting responsibility for your actions.  Just “letting life happen to you” seems far easier.

So this week each Launchpadder took a courageous step in imagining “for real” what he or she would choose as a vocation at age 25.   Each chose a job that could be landed just after college.

Some of the early picks:

• An Art Director Creating Video Games
• A Political Campaign Staffer
• A Pre-K Teacher
• A Marriage and Family Counselor
• A Biotech Scientist
• A  Program Director for a non-Profit designed to stop the Animal Abuse
• A Photographer.

In each case, Launchpadders had to pitch the job, providing proof of talents and passions and explaining which apprenticeships and college degrees had prepared them for the position.  In doing so, the twists and turns and path dependencies of early choices became clearer.

Each Launchpadder also presented a salary distribution from Salary.com for his or her position, and the audience acted as employers conducting a job interview, ultimately deciding to make an offer or not.  Those with no offers would start the Personal Finance Quest as a Gap employee at the mall or flipping burgers at McDonalds.

Thankfully, everyone eventually received an offer.  Final salaries ranged from $28,000 a year to $70,000.  Many were surprised that society values video game designers more highly than teachers.

Next Launchpadders will make decisions about houses, apartments and insurance, so to better understand the expenses of real life, and what you can afford on a teacher’s salary.  Money isn’t everything; but it does clarify hard choices.

One thing is for sure.  Our Launchpadders are far ahead of most college graduates in finding a calling, and will be making far more informed trade-offs and decisions, as they compare one path to another.

The sweet smell of success at Acton Academy’s state-of-the-art Chemistry Lab – freshly baked bread.

Middle Schoolers this session are immersed in a Chemistry and Cooking Quest, largely designed by Launchpadders.  Each week MS Eagles dive into atoms, electron orbitals and reactions, while at the same time learning to apply science to the kitchen.  Every Friday, Eagles roll up their sleeves and take part in a cooking contest.  To win ingredients or utensils, you have to solve a scavenger hunt full of Chemistry riddles and equations.

Week One on Friday,  Eagles solved puzzles and answered questions to win the right to cook omelets.  It turns out that the chemistry of eggs is a bit more complex than you might imagine.

Week Two on Friday was all about making Ice Cream.   Phase changes and foams seem a bit more intriguing when covered with chocolate.

Week Three this Friday was even a more complex logistical challenge, with four contests evolving simultaneously:

Making Bread

Making Cheese

Making Jam; and

Making Butter

Of course,  our Safety and Health Inspectors were hard at work too.

The Final Exhibition will be a giant Chopped episode, where Eagle teams will have to solve a Chemistry Scavenger Hunt to earn ingredients to cook the perfect meal.

Stay tuned!

Requests from parent-entrepreneurs to open an Acton Academy continue to arrive from  around the world.

We expect to have forty Acton Academies by September, 2016, including new launches in Irving and Weatherford, Texas;  Atlanta, Georgia;  Jacksonville, Florida;  Raleigh and Durham North Carolina;  Washington D.C.;  Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor Michigan;  Chicago, Illinois;  Sacramento, California;  Phoenix, Arizona;  Albuquerque, New Mexico;  San Pedro Sula, Honduras;  San Salvador, El Salvador;  Panama City, Panama and Budapest, Hungary.

Equally as exciting, we expect up to forty Acton Children’s Business Fairs around the world in 2016, including another Guatemala Acton Children’s Business Fair, which recently attracted over 6,000 visitors.

Word continues to spread.  This week we received 64 applications to start an Acton Academy and 13 Children’s Business Fair applications.

Young heroes and parents seem to be answering a call.  Our charge is to translate the lessons emerging from existing Acton Academies into a kit that will allow our spontaneously emerging network to build even more powerful Learner Driven Communities.

Our Launchpadders have worked hard this year.

As a final Negotiation Project, we created a new, more ambitious Launchpad Agreement to take learning and fun to new levels in 2016.  Here’s a copy of that agreement.

So for one last December activity, we decided to take on a lighter task, the Spy Challenge at the Perplexium Puzzle Room.

A Puzzle Room is a new form of entertainment, where a team is locked into a room, assigned roles and a compelling narrative, and given difficult series of puzzles to solve within sixty minutes.

Our team was tasked with finding the location of a dangerous secret agent.  As the minutes ticked by, puzzles were solved but tension rose.  It all came down to defusing a ticking time bomb.

Were the Launchpadders successful?  Let’s just say it was an explosive – though not completely successful end to a great first term.

Just a few weeks before Christmas, MS Eagles discovered they had been added to Santa’s Naughty List.

What to do?  With no time to spare, each MS Eagle had to write a letter to Santa to negotiate a return to the “nice side” of the ledger.

Some MS Eagles thought the challenge a bit light at first, but after a series of detailed writing exercises, critiques, drafts and edits, the results speak for themselves.

Did your MS Eagle escape from the Naughty List?  You be the judge.  And along the way, you can celebrate your Eagle’s progress in writing skills this year, as well as offer some growth mindset encouragement for the months ahead.

This year’s Overarching Question:  “Must a hero conquer fear to find true love?”  was answered by all the hard work MS and LP Eagles put into their Negotiations Quests.  Because in a Win-Win Negotiation, you must set aside the fear of being duped for long enough to hear what the other side truly values.

Yes, tackling Harvard, MIT and other role plays and well tested challenges like The Prisoner’s Dilemma was important.  So was learning your natural  negotiating style, from Avoidance to Accommodation to Collaborative to Competitive, and how to predict what your partner on the other side of the table might do.

Equally valuable was following a disciplined process,from Preparation to Questions to Bargaining to Closing, as well as setting the right first impression; asking about your partner’s needs and interests.

But nothing in win-win negotiation is more important than:

1. Getting each what he or she values most;
2.  Finding hidden treasures your partner will share; and
3.   Setting incentives that encourage long term cooperation.

All of these require trust, which means giving up the fear of being hoodwinked, which makes being warmhearted far more important than the skills of a tough bargainer.  Or as Aesop put it:

In the end, Eagles created a valuable framework below to complement Aesop’s fable, both of which will serve them well on their Heroes’ Journeys.

Launchpad in Session Three has featured two major initiatives, an introduction to the Mock Trial Competition and a Negotiating Quest.

Award winning Mock Trial Coach Karen Reynolds is helping LP Eagles begin a two month sprint towards a late January competition with hands-on, in person coaching.

In the Negotiations Quest, Launchpadders devoured a series of DVD lectures by world class negotiator Herb Cohen, preparing for a series of role plays that moved from simple distributive negotiations to complex multi-party win-win scenarios.

As Launchpadders moved between two such different learning experiences, they experimented with six different note taking methods, from the Cornell method to Outlining to Mind Mapping.

Having two intense but different approaches to prepare for hands on challenges gave us the chance to explore which approach to learning works best.   So for a Genre Project, each LP Eagle tackled a “compare and contrast” paper to explore which method packed as much learning as possible, in the least amount of time, in the most enjoyable way, for the lowest possible cost.

Which approach worked best?    We won’t spoil the surprise, but will leave it for parents to discover, as they compare this session’s Genre piece to earlier writing work, to see just how far Launchpadders have come in their analytical and communication skills.

Our Middle School Eagles have been on a three week Negotiations Quest.

You might think negotiations are merely haggling – issuing demands and holding your ground.  Bargaining certainly can be a critical part of a negotiations strategy, but as the MS Eagles discovered, it’s far better to “make the pie bigger” with a win-win approach than to battle over crumbs.

During the session, MS Eagles tackled a series of difficult negotiating role plays, moving from simple distributive negotiating, mainly over price;  to destructive “lose-lose” battles to be avoided at all costs; to more complex “win-win” negotiations that require a humble demeanor, listening, creativity and generosity; to the complexity of multiparty negotiations.

Along the way, MS Eagles listened to Master Negotiator Herb Cohen, who gave a key piece of advice – “you gotta care….but not that much.”

Our final test was a real world negotiation.  Some MS Eagles made a win-win approach to  parents; others elected to engage in “foreign relations” with the Elementary Studio, hoping to craft an Eagle Buck treaty between studios.  In both cases, the results had to be “win-win,” with complete honesty and a relationship that was stronger at the end of the discussions than at the beginning.

The result?  Across the board success. Those who entered discussions with parents found that a carefully timed approach, attention to the relationship and a generous heart led to far better results than bickering.  And with the Elementary Studio deliberations, Eagles were surprised by the number of win-win issues that surfaced, in the end signing a Trans-Studio Eagle Buck Treaty.

Yes, it’s important to identify whether your opponent has a competitive, destructive or collaborative intent.  But as our MS Eagles discovered, when possible, win-win negotiations make the pie bigger for all.

Deep Books encourage Eagles to devour “world changing” and “life changing” books.  As part of the badge requirements, you must pitch your book to the studio for approval.

Yes, occasionally we have to make sure the standards are upheld.  But far more often we overhear exchanges like this between a Launchpadder and a Middle Schooler: “Well, unlike the last Russian novel I read, this one…..”

How do you convince young heroes to read The Brothers Karamazov; Anna Karenina or War and Peace?  You don’t.  Only a trusted friend can convince you that a 1,000 page Russian novel just might change your life.

On Thursday Launchpadders hosted a final Chemistry Quest Creation Mini-Quest for parents and guests.

From the fundamentals of Chemical Bonding; to Reaction Rates to Thermodynamics;

to Deep Dives into Ceramics; Cooking; Essential Oils and Global Warming.

from a proposed Middle School Quest on Cooking to a proposed Middle school Quest on Explosives and Rockets, Launchpadders showed what it means to pursue a Hero’s Journey through Chemistry, conquering a fear of Chemistry to develop a deeper love of science.

“The Winner’s Curse;” “Sunk Cost Fallacy;” and “The Endowment Effect.”  Since the time of Adam Smith, the Science of Economics begins with the premise that economic man is a rational creature who makes rational decisions. But is this true?

• Do most people make rational decisions when it comes to money?
• More importantly, do you make rational decisions when it comes to money, and if not, should you?
• Finally, are there reliable experiments to help decide when to ‘trust your gut’ and when to slow down and apply rational thinking, experiments that will lead to more happiness, satisfaction and fulfillment?

Last Thursday Middle School parents and guests toured many of the fifty Behavioral Economics experiments performed by Eagles.    One guest bested the  Wisdom of the Crowds, walking away with a giant glass jar of coins;  another lost  $26 trying to win a $20 bill at auction.

Following the Exhibition, a parent observed: “I graduated with honors in Economics from the University of Chicago, and I just learned more common sense lessons about   money than in four years of college!”

An MS Eagle agreed: “The Biology Quest last spring was great fun.  I  learned a lot about plants, animals and evolution.  But I’ve worked even harder on the Personal Finance Quest and Behavioral Economics Quest because I know they’ll help me more in life.”

At the end of the Exhibition, an Eagle offered one last bit of Type I and Type II advice:   “Parents and guests – thank you for honoring us with your presence. May a gorilla never catch you unaware in the jungle; may you never be lured into a foolish auction and we hope “the wisdom of the middle school crowd” will help your intuitive and rational minds  bring you all the happiness, satisfaction and fulfillment you deserve.”

Sound like Greek?  Not if you are as well versed as the Eagles in Behavioral Economics.

Ted Dintersmith is a successful venture capitalist and parent, as well as the Producer of Most Likely to Succeed.

This article: A venture capitalist searches for the purpose of school. Here’s what he found from the Washington Post makes for provocative reading for parents, teachers and  young heroes.

“Welcome to my financial life at age 25….”

With these words, a Middle Schooler launched our Personal Finance Quest, the culmination of five weeks of work where each Eagle:

• Researched the most important financial decisions he or she would face in life – like deciding whether college is worth the cost; selecting a profession; and choosing when to start a family.
• Kept a log of personal spending, to see how cheaply you can live, without sacrificing the things in life that matter.
• Learned to use Google Spreadsheets to create personal income statements and balance sheets from age 25 until age 70.
• Practiced writing, critique and revision; as well as delivering ethos, logos and pathos; preparing to debate life’s most important financial decisions; and
• Most importantly, explored whether money represents a false sense of security or love, instead of just a way to keep score.

The Exhibition started with a series of debates, as Eagles faced off with opposing arguments on life’s most difficult financial questions.  One crowd favorite: “Is having children a wise financial decision?”

Following the debates, visitors examined each Eagle’s personal finance displays and spreadsheets, asking probing questions about “financial life at 25.”

We ended with a discussion of “lessons learned” by guests and Eagles about money and its relationship to a life well lived.

Reading, writing and arithmetic – important.   Lifelong lessons about personal finance and the meaning of money – priceless.

When we return from Fall Break, we begin a Behavioral Economics Quest, to explore how instincts and impulses can derail even the most carefully constructed financial plans.

“I just realized there’s no way I can cook twenty eight cakes for the Chemistry Quest Exhibition. It’s simply too expensive.  And I can’t reduce the recipe any further, because I need one egg yolk per 1/2 cake.”

“So what are the choices?”

“Well, I have to keep the experiments that deliver the most learning about Chemistry.  Those are essential.   I could drop a few where the substitutes for products like salt and vanilla aren’t likely to work.  But I need to keep the experiments that substitute for ingredients like eggs, that most often will be in short supply, because that will have the largest practical impact in the real world.”

The next day…..

“Good news.  I’ve reduced the list to ten experiments that will prove ninety percent of what we need to know, and I’ve dramatically cut the budget.”

Just a cooking lesson?  No.  It’s exactly the same critical thinking process a real science would use when forced with budget limitations.

Repeating decades old experiments may demonstrate the Scientific Method, but at the risk of boredom and turning bright minds away from science.    Far better to tackle more complex real life challenges, like needing to deliver a Wedding Cake as promised, even after you’ve discovered that some critical ingredients are no longer available.

“Dude – you’re seven millions in debt!”

“That can’t be true.  All I did was borrow some money for college and buy a house.”

“Well, interest payments do add up.”

“Not that quickly. Something’s not right with my projections.”

“Well, you must have forgotten to use ‘F4’ to fix a cell or misplaced a negative sign or mis-copied a formula..  Let’s take a look and see how to fix it.”

If you are familiar with spreadsheets, this may sound like a conversation between two CPA’s of MBA’s.   Actually, it’s a critique session between two Acton Middle School Eagles, working on the Personal Financial Quest.

Real world problems.  Real world tools.   Eagles learning from Eagles.

The best learning of all.

We packed as much learning and fun into the Middle School Ranch trip as is humanly possible.

We started with a series of team based competitions.

First, a spirited obstacle Navy Seal course contest that included trivia clues and “spelling a sentence” challenges.

Next to the paintball course for some target competition, including a few parent approved human targets.

Finally, building a raft and sailing across the lake and back to determine which team would have first choice of a bed and an extra helping of smores.

After so much activity, mounds of BBQ quickly disappeared.  Just after sundown, we gathered around the fireside for a ceremony where each Eagle burned a picture of “how I want others to see me,” instead choosing to pursue a heroic quality like curiosity,  courage, kindness or perseverance.

A spirited game of flashlight tag and capture the flag followed, then The Truman Show movie — and finally  – bed (or at least, “lights out.”)

6:00 AM came early, as our first group began a long hike towards Lone Mountain to watch the sunrise together.  Why do Heroes climb mountains?   So we can see farther.

Each Eagle left a small stone or symbol on the mountain, as a solemn commitment to the heroic quality he or she had chosen the night before.

Our covenants are signed and sealed. The tribe is formed.  Let the learning continue!

Our natural instincts as parents are driven by the “happy chemicals” in the brain like Oxytocin, Dopamine, Endorphins and Serotonin and the “unhappy chemicals” like Cortisol.

When a son or daughter succeeds, Serotin rewards with a chemically induced surge of: “You are a good parent” pride. When a son or daughter struggles, Cortisol brings discomfort.   If we intervene, Dopamine sends an evolutionary reward for protecting our future DNA. Evolutionary science at work.

Unfortunately, these natural instincts often interfere with the skills needed for our sons and daughters to earn independence. One way or another, real world lessons will be learned, beyond the reach of parents. In traditional schools, the lessons often come from the shame of poor grades, exclusionary cliques or bullies who lurk in the shadows.

At Acton Academy, we reward effort and character with more freedom and responsibility. In the Elementary studio, our focus is on kindness and respecting the rights of others. In Middle School, self-management and consistently delivering high quality work are more important, as is servant leadership.  By Launchpad, the freedom and accountability systems look more like Google, Apple or Bell Labs than a school.

None of this means our natural defense systems as parents aren’t triggered. It’s an evolutionary and chemical reality. But if we truly believe in the Hero’s Journey, we have to override these impulses for the Hero’s Journey to do its magic.

So why do you get up in the morning? A sense of duty to family? For a paycheck? Out of habit?

When Launchpad Eagles were asked this question…. silence. Follow by more silence. Then a few halfhearted responses like: “College, I guess.”

These are the best and brightest young people we have. Hard working. Independent. Deeply invested in the Hero’s Journey. Still, the best we’ve offered them as a society to the meaning of life seems to be: “college.”

Only 19% of Texas High school students from graduate from college within six years of leaving high school.  According to national estimates, only half of these college graduates will find a job worthy of a college graduate.  So less than 10% of Texas high school students will find college level jobs. For disadvantaged young people, the number is far lower.

And, of course, life is about far more than your job.

As a society, we are failing our young heroes.  It would be difficult to design a system to produce worse results.

We will do a better job serving our Launnchpad Eagles, whatever it takes.  As a start, we’ll offer for challenges to help spark a calling:

• Circles of Trust – intimate, protected discussions about what matters in life and why.
• Tortoise-like Contemplation – protected, quiet reflection times, free from distractions. Time for free writing or deep thought, armed with only a pad, pen and an inspirational reading.
• Learning by Doing – setting SMART goals and measuring progress towards a goal that matters to the individual. Finding the “AND” so you can access personal passions while doing something that’s valued by the world.
• Servant Leadership – practicing serving others, in a way that encourages your growth and theirs.

We’ll also ask Launchpadders to identify what drives her or him personally, and why:

• Who I am.
• Where I belong.
• My promises.
• Winning the game.
• Curiosity
• Serving others.
• Pursuing an Opportunity
• Righting an injustice or fighting against something.
• Fighting against something or someone.
• Duty to a person or God.

Accessing deep pools of inner motivation is an important and never ending life skill. The answer of “Why should I get up in the morning?” is a difficult one, and many of us change our answers as we grow.

College can be an effective and transformational experience. But answering “college” to the question of “Why do you get up in the morning?” will never be a sufficient answer at Acton Academy. We expect far more from our young Launchpad heroes.

Our Civilization discussions in Launchpad had grown stale.

Watching great college lecturers and following with Socratic Debates just no longer seemed as interesting as it once did.  So it was time to add some spice.

One third of Launchpad was assigned to play the role of Tories, those in the American Revolution who were loyal to King George.  Another third were assigned to be radicals like Thomas Paine.  The final third were neutral Colonists, unable to decide whether or not to revolt, tasked with asking questions of the Tories and Rebels.

At the end of the debate, the Neutrals would cross a line to join one side or another.  The winning side would earn more points.

Launchpadders watched a college level DVD.  Then went out and did original research, devouring letters, speeches and diaries from the period.  Finally, it was time for the debate to begin.

It was a spirited exchange, with raised voices on both sides.  Logic met with emotions and fevered appeals to loyalty.  By the end, the Rebels won by a whisker, likely just as it happened in Boston and Charleston.

Once again, we have heroes making tough choices as leaders.

For the last few weeks, Middle Schoolers and Launchpadders have been hard at work on a Personal Finance Quest, preparing to thrive in the real world. Our quest goes far beyond delivering a few basic financial tools and skills, delving deeply into the helpful and destructive ways money can influence our lives.

We started by investigating the meaning of money for each person. Is money a proxy for security, love, power or merely a way of keeping score?

Next Eagles had to research the “ten hardest financial decisions you’ll face” and pair off in teams, preparing for a live end of session debate. We also started keeping detailed expense logs and began to learn to use spreadsheets like Google Sheets for financial projections.

Week Two focused on income: choosing three possible jobs and looking up salary distributions on Salary.com. Eagles couldn’t simply choose a high paying job. Each had to convince semi-hostile panelists he or she could excel at the position.  Even if an Eagle were hired, the panel could set a high or low spot on the salary distribution, depending on the power of the pitch.

Week Three was spent on expenses, as Eagles used the internet to pick and price  automobiles, houses, insurance, colleges and the other financial decisions he or she would face at age twenty five. Self-taught lessons in Google Sheets became more difficult, requiring formulas, sorting and other complex operations, with only the internet as a teaching tool.

Preparation continued for the Big Financial Question Debate, with work on inductive and deductive arguments; using ethos, pathos and logos to make more compelling points and drafting, critique and revision of opening statements, rebuttals and closing.

Some of the comments from the quest have been priceless:

• “What do you mean I have to pay taxes? I already spent my salary.”
• “It costs how much to go to college?”
• “If my parents knew how much it cost to raise a child, I might not be here.”

On Friday, Eagles practiced the art of haggling – asking for a discount with “Is that the best you can do?” –then spread throughout the city to haggle with unsuspecting merchants. Almost every Eagle achieved at least 40% off list price, and the winning team averaged over 81% in discounts from retail.

The final victory – one Acton Academy parent who read the preparatory material for the outing decided to give it a try and asked: “Is that the best you can do?”

She received a $2000 discount just for having the courage to ask question!

Launchpadders are hard at work on their Chemistry Quest Creation.

We are in Week Six of a ten week Introductory Duke University college level Chemistry course so Launchpadders have the basic vocabulary, tools, frameworks and historical perspective needed to design a Chemistry Quest for the Elementary and Middle school Eagles.

In addition, Launchpadders are:

• Taking deep dives into the practical application of Chemistry and cutting edge challenges in areas like hydrogen fuel powered autos, cooking and the neurochemistry of addiction.
• Writing 2000 word mini-biographies on Chemistry Heroes like Isaac Newton and Alfred Nobel, investigating the fears and passions that drove these heroes, while learning to translate complex scientific discoveries into clear language and compelling analogies that can be understood by the average person.
• Preparing for an October 28^th Exhibition with models, displays, experiments and simulations on Chemistry Heroes; Basic Chemistry and Real World Deep Dives, with the goal of inspiring visitors to learn how Chemistry can improve their lives, all powered by an engaging Chemistry Scavenger Hunt.

For each Real World Deep Dive, a Launchpadder must answer:

• WHY – asking what problem or limitation in the natural world needs to be solved;
• WHY NOT – describing a solution to the problem;
• HOW – a detailed description of how Chemistry might provide the answer.

For example:

Why do people become addicted?

Why not protect people from addiction with a simple pill?

How do we need to chemically change brain receptors to achieve this?

By the end of the Quest Creation we expect to have a series of questions and experiments for the spring  Elementary and Middle School Chemistry Quests.

Learn to learn; learn to do; learn to be.

Can young people learn without hourly direction from an adult?

Anyone who witnessed the  flurry of team building and excitement Week One would be full of hope.  New relationships were forged; old friendships rekindled.  One new Middle School Eagle, summed up the mood: “I got more done in the last two days than in two months in my old school.  And it was fun too!”

Yet we know by October  some parents will begin to doubt.   Who could blame them? Report cards and standardized tests will be given at other schools.  Grandparents will raise concerns about college.  All we will have by then are one or two Exhibitions and a few dozen Khan Skills, which likely will be a bit rough.

This year’s Overarching Question will become all too real: “Must a Hero Conquer fear to find True Love?”

Yes, we could point out that our first graduating Acton Academy Eagle from Guatemala has been accepted to the University of California at Berkley to study Math and Neuroscience.   But one data point is no antidote for deep unease.

Here’s a Hero Story you can bookmark for when you need some reassurance.  And when you read it,  you likely not only will feel better about trusting young people to take learning into their own hands, but begin to realize just how high they can soar.

Dear Acton Academy Founder,

Here are some words of caution, learned the hard way.

Your job is to provide the tools for young heroes to build a Learner Driven Community and to continually champion the beliefs that allow such a community to flourish.

It is an Eagle’s decision when to learn and at what pace. You must respect this right. It is a parent’s right and responsibility to encourage, set limits and offer encouragement (and yes, occasionally extrinsic rewards!)

You must insist on due process in the studio, and that accomplishments and setbacks are transmitted honestly and transparently to Eagles, and through Eagles to their parents. When an Eagle receives low scores from peers or doesn’t advance as quickly as hoped, there may be push back from parents. Seeing your child in pain is difficult for any parent, and it’s hard to resist the impulse to intervene, especially when a child claims to be been treated unfairly.

No matter how well-meaning parent intervention may be, you must insist that an Eagle be allowed to experience the natural consequences of a poor decision. In other words, as long as due process has been followed, you must back up Council when an Eagle violates the norms of the group and is held accountable by his or her peers. This is one of the key principles of the Hero’s Journey and a cornerstone of a Learner Driven Community.

Life is unfair, and sometimes life in the studio will be unfair too. But it is important for Eagles to learn to deal with failure on their own – and yes occasionally to deal with unfairness – especially when it’s in a caring, nurturing community that’s almost always more fair than the real world.

Do not allow yourself to be drawn into the web of family dynamics between parents or between a parent and an Eagle. When a parent wants advice about an Eagle’s behavior in the studio, do not give into temptation. This is especially true if you are being asked for advice as a “model parent” or expert.

If you offer such advice, you are stepping into a minefield where you do not belong – take it from us as Acton Founders. You are not a financial advisor, marriage counselor or psychologist for your families. Nor are you an Uber-Teacher who should resolve disputes between parents, Eagles and Guides.

How do you set up healthy channels of communication between Eagles and parents, and parents and the community? Here’s our current plan:

1. Insist that Eagles mark their progress in an honest and transparent way.

In our case, Eagles report how hard they are working (Weekly Points); Leadership Development (360 Peer Reviews) and the delivery of excellent work (Badges.) With permission from an Eagle, a parent can use the Points Tracker to monitor progress and set more explicit short term goals, if necessary.

 2. Ask that all communication concerning Eagles and parents though a common email address so all necessary Guides and Owners are informed.

It is important that all communications are out in the open and are preserved. This way, you can note long term patterns of behavior.

3. Equip Eagles to solve their own problems.

Ask parents who want to intervene for an Eagle or who request a Parent-Guide-Owner conference to instead ask their Eagle to submit such concerns to Council, in writing. Ask Council to reply in writing. This preserves a record of all communications.

 4. Refer continuing family issues to an open forum.

If the issue isn’t resolved satisfactorily, a parent may request an open meeting between the Eagle, Council and any other involved parties, where parents may listen but not participate. In other words, an Eagle must address issues openly with peers.

5. Involve longtime Acton Parents.

Create a panel of longtime Acton parents, and involve them as early as possible when a family is struggling. If a family has concerns that cannot be addressed by a Family Badge, a Parent Running Partner or an open Parent Meeting, the panel of longtime parents can make recommendations to Owners as to what actions need to be taken, including asking a family to leave the community.   Make sure all parties will understand that confidentiality will be waived in most circumstances, so the community can be informed of the reasons a family is asked to leave.

Bottom line, your job as an Acton Academy Founder is to provide the tools for young heroes to build a Learner Driven Community, ensure that due process is followed and champion the beliefs that allow such a community to flourish. You should refrain from becoming involved in family matters that are beyond your expertise.

Our Eagles are learning how to build healthy families and communities. There’s no better way to help them than to draw clear boundaries for yourself, to provide opportunities for them to fail and learn.

Sincerely,

Acton Academy Austin

Our Eagles are self-directed, lifelong learners who want to change the world. But learning to use freedom wisely takes time and practice. So how can an Eagle prove she is ready to advance?

Our solution: providing a series of well-defined steps, called Freedom Levels, that mark an Eagle’s progress all the way from “joining the tribe” to “launching into the real world.”  As soon as you prove you can handle more freedom and responsibility,  you receive it.

Our Acton Academy Freedom Levels replace the arbitrary grades and grade levels of a traditional school.  After all, why should a young hero be held back by a calendar?

Freedom Levels measure progress in three ways:

1. Weekly Points measure how many hours of intense work an Eagle invests each week, through Reading, Writing. Math, Civilization and Quests. Every hour of intense work equals approximately 20 points;
2. 360 Peer Review Scores and comments provide a holistic view of character development and leadership skills on a 1 to 5 scale;
3. Badges showcase accomplishments, showing apprenticeship employers, college admissions officers and investors the excellent work an Eagle can deliver.

Work hard; show evidence of a strong character and deliver excellent work  — and you gain more freedom and responsibility.  It’s that simple.

Below is a summary of the Freedom Levels for Middle School and Launchpad (Elementary Eagles have their own set of Freedom Levels.)

Freedom Levels also mark when an Eagle proves she is ready to advance to a new studio, which can happen at the beginning of any session.

Yes, some of us may have difficulty giving up grades, grade levels and annual promotions. But institutional familiarity seems a small price to pay for allowing Eagles the freedom to develop skills, habits and character at their own pace, until they are ready to soar.

Have you received 360 Survey results from subordinates and peers? If so, you know direct feedback can sting. At times, comments seem unfair or hurtful.  After all, we all like to believe the best about ourselves.

Yet, it is difficult to become a better leader without frank, honest feedback.

At Acton Academy, we believe in the wisdom of the Tribe.  We believe 360 Surveys are invaluable when properly gathered and delivered.  In fact, we think peer feedback provides a more complete picture of leadership growth in an Eagle than the observations of an adult Guide, who has fewer personal interactions and comes with his or her own blind spots.

Are Acton Academy 360 Surveys perfect?  Absolutely not.  Any tool, whether a screwdriver, a computer or a peer review must be used correctly.  we need to equip Eagles to provide more accurate ratings and more encouraging comments. And we must continue to offer leadership tools and dispute resolution processes to build and strengthen authentic relationships.

Despite occasional missteps, we are committed to honesty and transparency, even when it stings.  We see peer review as the first step towards better communication, more tolerance and stronger bonds, even in a Tribe with fiercely held individual beliefs.

We believe conflicts are a part of being human, and far better dealt with in the open.  We want each Eagle see himself or herself as others see them, not to encourage conformity, but to make measured choices about words and actions. And while 360 Survey results are confidential, we encourage Eagles to share peer feedback with parents,

Guides never answer questions. So don’t be surprised when you ask “How is my Eagle doing?” you are referred back to a 360 Survey.    You see, we trust the wisdom of the Tribe – especially when it is a closely knit tribe of young heroes who are destined to change the world.

So how does a Learner Driven Community measure progress, without dampening the joy of self-directed learning? Not an easy task.

Traditional grades and report cards have no place in a Learner Driven Community:

• Each Eagle needs to advance at his or her own pace, discovering individual gifts and exploring passions instead of being marched lockstep through grade levels;
• World class work cannot be measured by arbitrary letter grades or standardized tests that place little value on 21^st Century Skills;
• Young heroes need to be encouraged and held accountable by peers and parents, not judged by an institutional framework.

At Acton Academy, we focus on three simple numbers that celebrate hard work, leadership and real accomplishments:

Weekly Points measure how many hours of intense work an Eagle dedicated last week to Core Skills and Quests. Every hour of intense work equals 20 points.

360 Peer Reviews and comments show how an Eagle is forging his or her character and developing as a leader;

Number of Badges Earned showcasing real world accomplishments and peer reviewed against rigorous standards of excellence.

Eagles set goals in each of these areas, and measure progress. Parents use our online Points Tracker to dig more deeply into specific areas, giving Eagles the freedom to fail, learn and recover, while reserving the right to offer consequences, rewards and encouragement that fit with a family’s value..

Three simple numbers. Measuring hard work, character and high quality work. Turning control back to Eagles and parents.  Trusting each Eagle to advance at his or her own pace.

Surely a much better system than a report card and standardized tests.

Creating  Overarching Questions is difficult.

The Overarching Question must raise an important philosophical question; resonate with each Eagle’s Hero’s Journey and bring together a year’s worth of learning for Elementary, Middle School and Launchpad Eagles.

After much discussion and debate with Eagles and Guides, our 2015-16 Overarching Question will be:

“Must a Hero conquer fear to find true love and understanding?”

What does “true love” mean?   Which true love matters most – love of self or Tribe? How do I cultivate a love of Science; Reading or Math that will last a lifetime?  Which fears must I conquer first?  How can I courageously speak of them and still feel safe and supported?

It will be a challenging year, on so many levels.

Last week, we celebrated the end of the 2014-15 year with a Ranch Trip and Mini-Exhibition for Session Seven.

At the ranch, Eagles competed on the obstacle course, had a long swim at the swimming hole, an unforgettable finish to the Embracing Life: Facing Death Quest with Iba’s Goat Ceremony and a sunrise celebration.

On Friday, we returned for a Mini-Exhibition of SOLEs, DIY (Do-it-Yourself) projects and EdX course presentations. Do-it-yourself electric bikes; SOLEs about black holes and this review of an EdX course: ““Yes, my Python programming course from MIT is ‘pretty challenging.’”

We ended the day with lessons learned, focusing on “embracing life and facing death;” the trials and tribulations of self-guided learning and deep reflections on this year’s Overarching Question: “When should a Hero submit to authority?”

Whew!  So much learning to celebrate, in so little time.

A University of Texas PhD who is considered one of the country’s shining stars in Inquiry Based STEM Learning (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) just completed a review of our Eagle’s progress in math.

The verdict? All Eagles are “doing well” – and many exceptionally well. For example, several Launchpadders have mastered over 700 Khan skills and are well on their way to completing all Khan math, through advanced Differential Calculus.

Even those who seem frustrated were deemed to be in the top 25% of all math learners their age, which is consistent with the progress we’ve seen on the SAT10 tests. A remarkable result since we haven’t taught any math since Acton Academy started.

Still, some Eagles are having more trouble with Khan Academy than others, for the following reasons:

•  Difficulties with Khan Academy itself: choosing the best strategies; bored with the videos or concerned that the videos don’t cover all necessary topics.
•  Khan Academy’s definition of mastery may be more rigorous than traditional schools, suggesting that the Eagles’ skills may be even stronger than the comparisons suggest;
•  Difficulty moving from a teacher directed classroom to the self-paced, largely independent, learning environment at Acton Academy.
•  An overall low interest in mathematics in a few Eagles.

The report concludes that “Acton Academy, because of its unique model, fiercely dedicated staff, and committed Eagles and parents, is in a position to….develop a comprehensive mathematics learning system that addresses:

1.  Appropriate credentials for college admissions,
2.  Internalization and application of mathematical thinking;
3. Relationships between mathematics and other courses of study. “

The report calls this the “brass ring of math education” and goes on to recommend Acton Academy:

• Inform parents and Eagles of Acton Academy’s math badge system;
• Continue leveraging Khan Academy as a tool;
• Allow high quality online courses from providers like EdX (Harvard-MIT) as a substitute for Khan Academy in upper level courses;
• Create comprehensive math quests of varying levels of intensity;
• Incorporate mathematics or mathematics history into other subject areas;
• Create systems to promote strong peer communication and collaboration in mathematics;
• Continue to take exams like Stanford 10 for comparison and college readiness reasons;
• Encourage Eagles to seek expert content knowledge from parents, peers or other experts to supplement their learning.

The following graduation standards were proposed for Eagles who want to apply to competitive universities:

Math Credentials

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the following best practices for Khan Academy success were recommended:

•  Have a plan: determine the number of skills per week you need to complete a mission by a certain date.
• Consistency counts: the most commonly referenced strategy was practicing skills on Monday/Tuesday and level up or do mastery challenges Wednesday – Friday. Other similar strategies work as well.
• When pursuing skills in order, use the skills list on the left hand of the screen, red square (image 1) as opposed to the queue on the right hand side.
• Understand your own signals for “being stuck”. Have strategies for breaking up the situation. See “Being Stuck” later in this paper for examples.
• Work the mathematics on paper in a deliberate, organized manner and make this a requirement for badges.
• Have alternate sources of mathematical information handy. See Alternate Learning Sources later in this report.

Bottom line, we still have a lot to learn about math in Learner Driven Communities, but the Eagles are doing quite well.

What would Middle Schoolers read in English class if free to choose?  Harry Potter?  Video game instructions?  Comic books?

At Acton Academy, Eagles can choose which Deep Books to read, as long as studio-mates agree the book is “life changing: or “world changing.”

Here’s this year’s list.  (Many Eagles are out on apprenticeships, so only sixteen out of thirty five are represented .)

• 1984 (2)
• A Life Decoded (Craig Venter)
• Fahrenheit 451 (2)
• Flowers for Algernon
• A Brief History of Time
• A Sand County Almanac,
• Animal Farm (6)
• Animal Liberation
• Brave New World (3)
• Catch-22
• Death of a Salesman
• Democracy in America
• Extra Lives
• Heart of Darkness
• How to Win Friends and Influence People (2)
• Lord of the Flies.
• Madame Bovary
• Man’s Search for Meaning
• The Once and Future King.
• One World Schoolhouse
• Reality is Broken
• Redesigning humans
• Silent Spring
• Sophie’s World
• Steal Like an Artist
• The Art of War
• The Brothers Karamazov
• The Catcher in the Rye
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.
• The General Theory of Money, Interest, and Employment
• The Giver
• The Iliad
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
• The Jungle
• The Maltese Falcon
• The Omnivore’s Dilemma.
• The Prince (2)
• The Rule of Law,
• The Screwtape Letters,
• To Kill A Mockingbird (4)
• To Sell is Human
• With the Old Breed.
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

A thirteen year old Eagle taking MIT’s Introductory Course in Python Computer Programming for a grade says: “It’s pretty hard. It might take until the end of the summer to finish it.”

Two Middle School Eagles taking a Harvard University course on Chemistry and Cooking send the following:

•  Cola = Molecular Density
•  Sugar = Oven Calibration and Melting Point
•  Eggplant = Moles
•  Cabbage = Acids and Bases
•  Eggs = Heat
•  Tea = Heat and Mass
•  Cookies = Moles

“So far, we have spent 16 hours on it, and that’s only the first two weeks!”

Another Middle School Eagle completes a University of Pennsylvania Law course, earning an “A.”

EdX (MIT and Harvard) announces anyone can earn the first two years of college credit from Arizona State University for a minimal fee, with hours that will transfer to any university.

How will our Eagles perform in college? We’ll know long before they enroll — as Sophomores and Juniors.

Books about business and leadership typically disappoint.  Not so Work Rules! by Laszlo Bock, who heads hiring and culture for Google.

Below are insights from the book, followed with similarities to our learning community at at Acton Academy:

1.  Attract the best people, trust them and believe they will do great things.  Micromanagement doesn’t work.

Google aspires to change the world for decades to come, sets high standards in hiring and trusts its people to execute.   At Acton Academy, we believe each person who enters our doors will change the world in a profound way.  We use our call-to-greatness and a series of difficult challenges to attract extraordinary parents and Eagles. Then we trust the Eagles to run a Learner Driven Community.

2.   Ask people to set challenging SMART goals and make all personal achievements (and failures) transparent.  What matters in the end is making significant progress towards solving a real world problem, with limited resources.

As a Googler, you set ambitious individual and team goals and publish them for all to see.  At Acton Academy, each Eagle sets highly visible weekly (and often daily) SMART goals;  measures and publishes how many intense, focused hours of work he or she spends in each area, whether or not individual and team goals were achieved.

3.   Relentlessly eliminate unnecessary effort and overhead and guard against the micro-managers who misuse power. 

Managers at Google do not have the power to hire, fire or set compensation: the lure of hierarchy and power is simply too corrupting.  At Acton Academy, adults are granted the respect due every person, but may not teach to a test or control students.   Eagles experience the joy of learning through self governance; worthy challenges and engaging  experts, coaches and mentors of all ages, all a part of their Hero’s Journey.

4.  Use the “wisdom of the crowd” to judge excellence and when it’s time to reward and promote.

At Google, salaries are low; bonuses, stock options and advancement are based on surveys of those who work with, under and above an individual.   At Acton Academy, we use 360 surveys and peer reviews to judge excellent work against crowd sourced rubrics and world class examples, as well as to measure leadership and character.   Studio-mates know far better than adults who deserves to be praised, rewarded and promoted.

5. Separate extrinsic rewards from critique and coaching .

The research is clear – if you reward with money, you discourage more powerful and deeper motivations.    At Google, performance reviews and coaching are separate from compensation discussions.  At Acton Academy, we track points and force rank submissions to encourage friendly competition.  But we spend far more time on the importance of a growth mindset, the Hero’s Journey and helping each individual move forward on his or her journey, as part of a larger learning community.

Do we really trust tightly knit young heroes to run their own Learner Driven Community, free from the daily control of adults?   Can they possibly inspire thousands of young heroes around the world to do the same?  Hard to imagine.

But who would have guessed Google would have 53,600 employees ten years ago?

We often contrast Acton Academy’s “Learn to Learn; Learn to Do and Learn to Be” goals with the “Learn to Know” approach favored by traditional schools.

Recently I realized our view of traditional schools is incomplete.  The full mantra is more accurately stated as: “Learn to Know; Learn to Obey.”

In most traditional environments young people are rewarded for doing as they are told (Learn to Obey.)  No character development or critical thinking required; simply memorize a slew of facts and it will be assumed that you have mastered a subject (Learn to Know.)

It’s a far simpler model than Acton Academy.  Our approach requires messy real world challenges (Learn to Do;) choosing a process and path (Learn to Learn;)  and the courage to forge character by battling pressure, ambiguity and failure on a Hero’s Journey (Learn to Be.)

In most cases, the simpler the better.  But not when you are preparing young heroes for life changing callings in the tumultuous 21st Century.

“Some Eagles may have issues dealing with popularity if they ever leave for a regular school.”

The Middle School Eagle before me had only been at Acton Academy a few months, and I wasn’t quite sure I understood her point.

“What do you mean by ‘popularity?'”

“I mean, there’s no pecking order.  At my old school, I was called…..”

The mean words that followed took me back to my middle school years.  The “popular kids” used labels like this to demean those lower in the social standing, just like stronger chickens will peck a weaker chicken to death if it dares to get out of line.

“Why doesn’t that happen at Acton Academy,” I asked.

“Because you’d be asked for a hundred Eagle Bucks and then sent home by the tribe.”

I sense the reasons go even deeper, but what an interesting question to ponder.

What is the purpose of  a cemetery?

That was the question for our Friday outing to the Texas State Cemetery, where some of our most famous Texans were laid to rest.  Walking through the trees and winding paths was like strolling through two centuries of Texas history:  Governors; Texas Rangers; War Heroes and famous Writers and Poets.

Stephen F. Austin – the Father of Texas.

Bigfoot Wallace – an early Texas Ranger who lived a life of honor and service.

Three Eagles pay tribute to the fallen of 9-11.

The final resting place of Navy Seal Chris Kyle.

An investment in an afternoon of solemn memories and gratitude.  Quite a monument to a rich history of heroes.

This session’s Civilization Quest is focused on the Middle Ages.

Were the Middle Ages really the Dark Ages?  How was daily life in a feudal society different than our own?   Did the rise of Christianity and Islam hasten the fall of Rome?  How important were Christianity and Islam to the rise of modern civilization?  Are the problems we face today echoes of the past or something new?

Were Constantine; Charlemagne and Luther heroes or not?  Was the Catholic Church a stabilizing force for good or destined to become a corrupt self serving bureaucracy?  Where the Crusades a Holy War or a poorly planned misadventure of ruffians?   Was the plague avoidable?   Could it happen again today? Should we see the Magna Carta as inevitable or an act of bravery that changed the world?

Disconnected questions?  No, simply examples of the questions Eagles drafted for their Socratic Discussions, after doing original research, watching Great Courses videos and participating in hands on simulations.

Each Eagle at Acton Academy learns to identify special gifts, find “flow” in daily work and discover irresistible opportunities, all in search of a calling that will change the world.   As part of “trying on” different callings to see if they fit, Eagles pursue, obtain and execute apprenticeships, beginning in middle school.

Last week a twelve year old Eagle asked permission from his parents to leave campus.  He walked four blocks to a hospice, paused to gather his bravery, and stepped through the door.

He found the receptionist: “Excuse me.  Do you have four minutes for me to ask you about your work here, or should I come back later when it might be more convenient?”

Assured that now was a good time, he continued with his pitch.  A minute later he found himself in a conference room in an interview.  After exactly four minutes, he prepared to take his leave, but was asked to stay longer.

By the end, our brave Eagle made a new friend in the receptionist and had two  conversations with residents who were ready to recommend him for the job, and left with  several names within the organization of those who might offer an apprenticeship.

He later told his studio mates: “Yes, it was scary at first, but now that I’ve done it once,  I’m looking forward to my next interview.  Cold calling in person is a great way to learn more about an apprenticeship and to sell yourself.”

It took a great deal of courage to walk into a hospice unannounced.  The reward?  The confidence to walk into any business and take the first step towards finding a calling.

If there is an afterlife, what will it look like?

Below are ten original Eagle art works that wrestle with this question.

First came the Biology Quest, with hands-on challenges about DNA, evolution and the natural world.  Then the Medical Biology Quest, where Eagles practiced diagnosing real illnesses, pitched cutting edge medical research and learned about bodily systems.

Now comes the most challenging quest in the Biology series: Embracing Life; Facing Death —  six weeks of digging deeply into the physical, emotional, spiritual and practical challenges of dying.  Too much for middle and high school aged heroes to handle?  Not for our Eagles.

Last Friday’s outing was a tour of the Body Worlds exhibit, where Eagles saw plasticized corpses, displayed in a celebration of the beauty of the human body.

What is life?  What is physical death?  Are Near Death Experiences a look into the after-life or a biochemical response?  How do you perform an autopsy? Is it ethical to display  human corpses in a museum?  Real world challenges raised all of these questions in the last three weeks.

After a reverential viewing of the Body Worlds exhibition, the verdict was unanimous: a well earned outing, taking us one step closer to embracing life and bravely facing death.

Dr. Gregory House is a master diagnostician, a Sherlock Holmes-like doctor on the television show House M.D. who solves difficult cases with the barest of clues.

For the last five weeks our Middle School Eagles have embarked on a Medical Biology Quest, playing the part of Gregory House; learning the subtleties of diagnostic medicine, studying the various systems of the body: Respiratory; Circulatory; Digestive; Nervous; Endocrine; Skeletal-Muscular and more; all the while delving deeply into the latest medical research.

On Friday it was time for the Medical Biology Quest Exhibition, where invited guests became participants in a three act play addressing the question: “Who is the ultimate authority of a Hero’s health: you or your doctor?”

Act I: Research Funding Pitches: Each Eagle stepped into the shoes of a leading medical researcher, describing a devastating disease like Alzheimer’s and the latest scientific breakthroughs, all in an attempt to raise research funding.

Pitches were designed for a specific audience: National Institute of Health Director Francis Collins; Gates Foundation CEO Susan Hellman; Billionaire medical philanthropist John Huntsman or an individual investor participating through a crowd sourcing website.

Who would be the winner? The Eagle who captured the percentage of funding from its target audience, represented by parents and other exhibition visitors.

Act II: Bodily System Stories and Displays:  Teams of four to five Eagles chose one of the human body systems and created a work of art (photos; videos or sculptures) to bolster an interactive story telling session designed to educate our guests about the function and care of that particular system.

Act III: Medical Diagnosis Challenge: The final challenge was our main event – teams of Eagle doctors charged with diagnosing patients – with the role of patients played by parents and Acton MBA students who had been armed with difficult cases, subtle symptoms and false clues.

For the last five weeks our middle school Eagles tackled the same interactive games, videos and real world simulations used by nurses, doctors and emergency room technicians. Tasks included honing observational skills; practicing patient-centered questioning; exploring common cognitive biases and interpreting blood tests; CAT scans; X-rays and a host of other diagnostic tools, as well as collaborating to convert patient stories and data into a differential diagnose.

The cases presented were perplexing: Did your patient have heartburn or was she moments away from death because of a heart attack or pulmonary embolism? Was stiffness in a shoulder a muscle strain or the beginning of septic arthritis? Did fever and stomach pain mean the flue, or the early stages of an Ebola-like disease?

Each minute of diagnosis cost $1000; each test cost between $150 and $1,500, with an additional charge for an expert interpretation . A correct diagnosis was worth $10,000; if your patient died, the hospital was charged $20,000 in additional insurance fees. So who could deliver the most effective health care for the lowest cost?

Our mock patients were magnificent; collapsing in pain; fainting and providing a myriad of subtle clues, some true; others leading to dead ends. The Eagles were up to the task, using well planned protocols and online symptom checkers to sort through aches, pains and test results and come up with the correct diagnosis. Then, without warning, the game became much harder.

The lights of the flickered and an announcement boomed over to PA system: The city has just been struck by a hurricane and our internet access has failed.” Now the Eagles had to rely on old fashioned logic. Most adjusted well.

A few minutes later, the PA system boomed again: “We’ve just received word of a major train wreck. Prepare for the Emergency Room to be swamped. You may no longer see patients one at a time but instead have no more than 30 seconds to triage every injured or ill person.“ Even the best teams were stretched to the limits of their ability.

Finally, it was time to bring the exhibition to an end. A satisfied but weary group of middle school Eagles gathered to share “lessons learned” and receive hard earned praise from our visitors. All in all a magnificent afternoon; enjoyed by every person in the studio.

Study Biology from a textbook? Not our style. So much more fun and a far more powerful learning experience when you apply 21^st Century Skills to real world medical problems.

Our Eagles emerged with a deep appreciation for the skill and dedication of doctors and nurses, armed to become Heroes who are co-creators of a healthier future.

Perhaps a few will become doctors, nurses or medical researchers – all because of a few weeks of hard work, deep concentration and dedicated teamwork – and one fine afternoon of celebrating their new found learning and putting it to the test.

Launchpad prepares Acton Academy Eagles for real world adventures as adults, whether it is a life changing apprenticeship or admission into a selective college.

Yesterday Launchpadders held their first Exhibition, where each Eagle showed his or her accomplishments to date; talked honestly about stumbles and missteps and asked for help from parents, fellow travelers and Launchpad Guides.

Even a partial list of accomplishments over the last few months is impressive:

•  Completing a course in Arabic with a grade of 98;
•  Finishing a University of Pennsylvania Law School course ;
•  Ambitious writing projects and an Eagle created film soon to be shown at the Cannes Film Festival;
• Mastering Pre-Algebra; Algebra I and Geometry.
• Taking on Quest Creations in Culture; Psychology; Anthropology; Biology; Law and a host of other personal passions;

Even more impressive was the humility to admit shortcoming and mistakes, all real but solvable problems:

• A lack of structure;
• A need for better time management and project management skills;
• Too much procrastination.

The most impressive moment of all, however, was the commitment of all the Eagles to a world changing vision and mission;

and the outpouring of love and support from the adults in the room, each of whom pledged affirmation and accountability

What a grand experiment!

Is it possible for a group of high school aged Launchpad Eagles to devour the subject of Biology and design a successful Quest for Middle school Eagles?  Frankly, we didn’t know the answer – until now.

On Thursday, parents and friends gathered for the Biology Quest Exhibition, a celebration of all that Middle School Eagles had learned over the past six weeks about Cells, Plants, Animals, Humans and the Biosphere.

During the quest teams competed and collaborated to craft Nobel Prize Winning Speeches in the shoes of their favorite Biology Hero, to master deep Biology Bee questions and to  create experiments and displays in a team’s area of focus.

Was the exhibition a success?

After listening to twelve of the Nobel Prize Winning Speeches, a visiting PhD remarked  he was impressed at how well the Eagles had memorized the work of Nobel Laurette’s.  He was surprised to learn that the Eagles had written all the speeches from scratch.

The Biology Bee was a high pressure affair, with Eagles handling questions like: “What is life?;”  “What is the difference between meiosis and mitosis?;” and “Which biology specialty would best fit your calling?”‘

Visitors also were  impressed by the hard work and artistic effort that went into the exhibits, experiments and displays.

In the end, the Launchpad Eagles received a cheer and a round of applause for launching the first student designed Quest at Acton Academy.

Next session our Eagles take on the role of Doctor Gregory House from the famous television series, as they prepare to learn about the human body and how to diagnosis diseases.

Week Five of the Biology Quest has been focused on Humans, specifically human evolution and DNA.

The goal of Friday’s exhibition was the extraction of DNA —  far from a simple experiment.

Eagles were given a choice of:

• Three different organic materials: meat, strawberries and green peas;
• Three different detergents to separate lipids and proteins from DNA; and
• Several choices of experimental equipment and technique.

Eagles had to decide which combination of material, detergent and process yielded the best samples of DNA.  This required self organizing within and between teams to make sure all the variations were covered, ensuring results would be comparable in the end, and even to debating and defining what “best” DNA sample meant.

Just like at Bell Labs and the NIH, there were squabbles between scientists; competing egos and agendas; and interpersonal conflicts that had to be resolved before science could be advanced.

Not just another textbook experiment, but lessons about how science works (and doesn’t work) in the real world.

This was Animal Week for the Biology Quest.

Eagles studied animal behavior, taxonomy and physiology, preparing for the end of session Biology Bee.

More importantly, each Eagle faced a difficult moral dilemma:

1.  Perform a dissection and a series of experiments on a frog freshly (and humanely) killed, taking care that the scientific lessons were worth it.

2.  Instead, perform fewer experiments on a preserved frog.  This meant Eagles would not have to kill a frog, but by purchasing a frog killed by someone else, might encourage the killing of more frogs in the future.

3. Refuse to do any work on a real frog, recently alive or preserved, and instead rely on a virtual dissection alone.

These difficult decisions led to a week-long series of ethical discussions and  angst.  All the while, Eagles were working on experimental protocols from famous experiments by Galvani and others.  Unlike some traditional schools, most of the challenges weren’t simple prearranged experiments, but complex endeavors that required a great deal of pre-planning and thought.

In the end, several of the more complex experiments failed.   Everyone completed a complex dissection and a few teams managed to test various chemicals like nicotine and caffeine on a beating frog heart; but no one was able to animate a frog’s legs with electricity.  Just like real scientists, the results were unpredictable and often frustrating.

The final verdict?  Three live frogs were humanely sacrificed.  Three more were granted a pardon and sent home, with at least some chance of surviving.  One Eagle bravely abstained from working on any real frogs on moral grounds, and received a round of applause for his courage.

Real, messy science.  Difficult ethical decisions with real consequences.  Learning Science not as a mantra, but a messy work in progress.

Our Launchpadders are heroically choosing the challenges that will shape their next year of work: difficult goals, skills to be mastered, subjects to devour.

If you have ever wondered how to craft a calling, Acton MBA teacher and playwright Steve Tomlinson’s TEDx talk is well worth watching.

Our Launchpad Eagles are beginning to design their Spring and Fall Quests.

Here’s the process:

1.  Make a list of the skills, areas of interest and vocations you might want to master.

2.  Check the requirements for a selective college, to see how a survey of an academic discipline or a deep dive into an area of real world specialty could satisfy an academic requirement, while still celebrating individuality or encouraging curiosity.

3.  Create a list of possible Acton Academy Quests that could be created to help Middle School or Elementary School Eagles learn a subject or skill, that also satisfies #1 and #2 above.

4.   Choose what you want to do next and craft an action plan with mileposts.

5.  Cross the threshold and get started.

Here’s how the process worked out for one Eagle (disguised to protect privacy):

Step One:  Skills, Areas of Interest and Possible Vocations

1. Learning Spanish.
2. Venezuela
3. Anthropology
4. K12 Education.
5. Molecular Biology.
6. The Law and an apprenticeship, possibly with the US Supreme Court.
7. NOLs – leadership in challenging outdoor settings.
8. Leadership skills.
9. Cooking skills.
10. Arguing and debating (legal.)

Step Two: Compare to Badges needed for College:

1. Equivalent of two years of a foreign language.
2. Need at least two more hard sciences: Deep dive in Chemistry in the fall. Physics next.
3. One or two more deep books this year.  At least one from Modern American Literature.
4.  Finish World Civilization with the group in Socratic Discussions.  American Civilization next.
5. Four more genre (writing) badges needed this year.
6.  Finish Algebra I and II this year. Geometry and trig next.

Step Three: Brainstorming Ideas and Combinations

Spanish and Venezuela – an Into the World Badge (and more.)

• Take Spanish I and II (all of Duolingo) plus some immersion as outlined in Thirty Days until Fluency. 
• Combine with a one or two week Acton Academy apprenticeship in Latin America (you also could do some Skyping beforehand,) with a paper comparing some aspect of Acton Austin and Acton Guatemala.
• Pick a Deep book to read about Latin America.  Perhaps 100 Years of Solitude or Don Quixote.
• Another option would be research and a paper comparing some aspect of the Venezuelan Court system and the US.

Anthropology

• Shadowing a private and public school and comparing to Acton Academy and perhaps Acton Academy Venezuela.
• A self study deep dive or online course in Anthropology.
• A paper or TEDX talk focusing on the difference between grades and badges.
• A deep book about 21^st Century education.

 Law

• Some sort of online Law course – UT extension or EdX.
• An apprenticeship with the US Supreme Court or a lawyer.
• A paper or TEDX talk on some particular aspect of Constitutional law

Chemistry

• Deep dive in Chemistry with other LP’s.
• Focus on cooking and chemistry and relation to nutrition.
• Deep book on Chemistry.
• Some sort of cooking demonstration that involves chemistry.
• Perhaps a paper or speech about organizing a team in a kitchen.

 NOLS and outdoor leadership

• Take a NOLS course.
• A paper on motivation when in the wild.
• Mapmaking skills.
• Executing a trek – planning and leadership.

Step Four- Working Plan for this Spring

1. Spring Quest Creation Badge in Spanish –

•  Use Duolingo
• Read the book Fluent in Three Months and use its approach to start the immersion process as soon as possible.
•  Choose a deep book about the Spanish culture.
• Document the way you learned Spanish, in a way other Eagles can follow, and present in some sort of written and/or video format.
• Find and pass a test that demonstrates Spanish I proficiency. As a stretch goal, pass Spanish II as well.

2. Take a verified (graded) online introductory course in Anthropology on EdX, Udacity; Coursera or UT Extension, for example: https://www.edx.org/course/anthropology-current-world-issues-uqx-world101x#.VLfl8haJfFE or http://cie.austin.utexas.edu/uex-cm/courses/cultural-anthropology or do a deep dive on your own. This will be used for a QC badge in spring involving education.

3. Possibly take a verified (graded) online introductory course in Anthropology on EdX, Udacity; Coursera or UT Extension, for example https://www.edx.org/course?search_query=law

4. Add Deep Books and Genre pieces as necessary in areas of interest.

5.  Pursue other ideas in the fall.

Step Five- Getting Started

1. Watch Benny’s TEDX talk: http://www.fluentin3months.com/tedx/
2. Commit to spend ____ hours each week on Duolingo.
3. Read Fluent in Thirty Days and have a SMART immersion plan by ___________ .
4. Have a test that I will use to measure mastery by __________.
5. Complete Algebra I and I by ____________.
6. Choose and pitch a Deep Book about Spanish culture by __________.
7. Create a list of Genre projects and have a SMART plan for the first one by ___________.
8. Choose an Anthropology course by ____________ and start by __________.
9. Choose a law related course by ______________ and start by _____________.
10. Begin my law apprenticeship process during Session Six.

Creating a path towards a calling, while keeping all options open for a selective college or a world changing apprenticeship.   Creating Quests that Middle and Elementary Eagles can enjoy. That’s what the future looks like for an Acton Academy Launchpadder.

Can you decipher these photos?  A difficult challenge; to play the game, you’ll have to read to the end.

Your body has approximately 37 trillion cells.  To put that into perspective, if each cell were a second, it would take over one million years to number the cells inside you.  How many different types of cells do you think you could identify?

The challenge for Middle School Eagles in Week Two of the Biology Quest is to play detective, earning clues to decide which of the over 200 Cell Types and dozens of Cell processes have been assigned to their team.

All during the week, Eagles performed independent research, played games like Cell Craft (above) and wrote numerous short pieces about their discoveries, like this:

A cell is the building block of all living things including plants, animals, and, as you never would have guessed, single-celled organisms.  Cells are made up of different parts, and vary from kingdom to kingdom, so I’ll go over the type that’s the most familiar to us animals, animal cells.  Animal cells are made up of several components, all of which are crucial to the health of the cell.  Let’s start on the outside, with probably the least complex of all of the parts of a cell, the cell membrane.  

The cell membrane is basically a wall that keeps the good cell-parts in, and keeps the bad stuff out.  (Or at least it tries to)  Next up is the mitochondria.  It’s the power plant of the cell.  It produces adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, which is used to power the rest of the cell.  The next item in our cellular journey is the nucleus, the center of the cell.  The nucleus controls the cells functions, by controlling protein synthesis.  The nucleus also stores the DNA, the instruction manual for the cell, and the nucleolus, which produces ribosomal RNA is produced.  

Another organelle in the cell is the vacuole. It stores food, water, waste material, and a microscopic caveman named Bob.  (I was kidding about that last one)  Another part of animal cells is Lysosomes.  They are the cell’s clean-up crew, breaking down food into smaller pieces, and they also break down old cell parts.  Those are only some of the parts of the cell, with plenty more and more complex parts.

Completing each challenge earned another clue for your team.  The sooner you received the clues and discovered your cell and cellular  process, the sooner you could begin working on a skit to demonstrate your identity to the studio – without using any words.  The team with the most correct guesses from the studio won.

Can guess the cellular processes and cells pictured above?  Here’s a list of possibilities:

1. Protein Synthesis (E. Coli.)
2. Fertilization + Meiosis (Sperm)
3. Photosynthesis (Plant Cell)
4. Cellular Respiration (Fat Cell)
5. Mitosis (Skin Cell)

Perhaps this video will help for one of the skits.

Here’s another:

By the end of the week, each Eagle had a deeper understanding of cells and cellular processes, and the week’s Launchpad Creator received the standing ovation pictured above from his Middle School comrades.

Quite an improvement from textbooks and lectures.  All from a Quest created by a team of high school aged Eagles.

If you were a high school aged Launchpadder, how would you challenge Middle School Eagles  to learn Biology? By flipping through a textbook?  By listening to a lecture? Not hardly.  For an Acton Academy Biology Quest must have challenges, rewards and fun.

To launch the first week of the Biology Quest, each Eagle pitched to stand in the shoes of a Biology Hero in a Nobel Prize acceptance speech, explaining why he or she had become a world class scientist.  Some participants had to pitch three or four heroes to gain entry into the Cell, Plant, Animal or Biosphere team – meaning Eagles were exposed to dozens of heroes and experiments during the week long series of pitches and critiques.

Each team also will have to create hands-on experiments, videos and artistic displays to showcase their scientists and area of concentration.  The speeches and displays will be showcased in a public exhibition at the end of the six weeks, along with a Biology Bee where participants will compete to give the clearest, most accurate and compelling descriptions of different biological theories and processes – only seconds after having their question pulled from a hat.

During the six week Biology Quest, each subsequent week be led by the Launchpadder who designed it, focusing on Cells in week two; Plants in week three; Animals (and evolution) in week four; Humans (and DNA) in week five and the Biosphere in the final week.

So what is the picture above?  For that answer, you’ll need to dive into Week Two’s Cell Quest – the subject of tomorrow’s post.

Our genre this year is Storytelling.  Our Overarching Question:  When doe a Hero submit to authority?

During Session Three, we focused on creating  websites that sell using stories, a critical 21st Century skill for any entrepreneur, artist or free agent that wants to sell a product or offer a service.   We also explored the customer as a source of authority for a business, and how an entrepreneur, artist or free agent can decide which customers to serve and which customers to reject.

Eagles practiced blogging, writing drip emails and choosing the powerful words and images to help move a prospective customer through the five steps of a Sales Funnel:

1. Increasing awareness and desire
2. Offering a benefit
3. Qualifying
4. Answering objections; and
5. Closing.

Eagles also learned to storyboard as a way of rapid prototyping and rated several free website creation programs, as each team went through multiple rounds of critique preparing to:

• Market a real product or service for a real business; or
• Pitch a “must have” item for the studio; or
• Sell something during Socrates’ time (which fits into this session’s Civilization focus.)

In the end, only those websites that were approved by each team made it to the final round.  Can you predict which of the websites below won?

•  http://glitchindustries.wix.com/photography
•  http://agoramarketplace.weebly.com/index.html
•  http://bensmojo.weebly.com/
•  http://www.wix.com/my-account/sites/bdb1e349-b06d-4d17-b041-8d7ef12409f9
• http://kaikiddsblog.weebly.com/

After an excitement packed week of trying, acquitting and executing Socrates, a group of Middle School and Launchpad Eagles earned one of the first tours offered of Austin’s new $107 million Federal Courthouse, to see modern justice firsthand.

Below, two Eagles who hope to avoid becoming  customers of the judicial process, toast: “Taxpayer money well spent!”

So how do you assure that independent scholars have mastered enough of a complex subject?  That was the dilemma we faced when evaluating a four week deep dive that our Launchpad Eagles took in Biology.

One squad of Launchpadders devoured a thousand page textbook; the rest watched forty Crash Course Biology videos.  Both groups held twice weekly Socratic discussions on the material.  The goal was to gain enough deep questions, history, vocabulary and perspective to design spring Biology Quests for Middle School and Elementary Eagles.

Still, how could we be sure the experiment had been successful?  Yes, the LP Eagles had to complete a 2500 word exploration of the life of a Biology Hero, but that wasn’t enough, and a multiple choice test would have been inadequate to test the deep understanding we needed.

Our solution was to invite Andrea Nolting, a University of Texas PhD candidate in Science and Colorado School of Mines graduate, for a Cambridge style oral exam, similar in form to the examination she would soon face to earn a PhD degree.

Her conclusions:

“I was impressed with the knowledge the students had gained in such a short time. They grasped the majority of the concepts/topics I discussed with them. To the whole, after the first couple of minutes, they did well conversing with an ‘outside adult’ and were able to explain their opinions and ideas clearly.

It was a pleasure to speak with students so passionate about learning, even when science may not be a favorite subject. I tried to make a point to ask several students what their favorite and least favorite subjects were, and why. The answers were often profound- i.e one student felt a connection with Norman Borlaug, and fell in love with the science of plants- she thought about how she too can utilize agricultural processes to help fed the world’s hungry. It was refreshing to see young individuals with such grand and life-altering aspirations.”

Well done Launchpad Eagles!

Despite strong arguments from Lycon, Antyus and Meletus, Socrates and his former student Crito persuaded Athenians to find the infamous philosopher “not guilty” of impiety toward  the Gods and corrupting the youth of Athens.

Citizens struggled with the verdict, requiring over an hour of feisty debate and three separate votes to free Socrates.

Despite the decision, powerful forces tricked Socrates and his student Crito into drinking hemlock, a martyrdom that serves as both an inspiration and a warning to those who dare to speak truth to power.

If you would like a dose of optimism today. watch this short video from this year’s Children’s Business Fair: https://vimeo.com/114523424

Eagle Bucks allow our young heroes to hold each other accountable when community standards or individual rights are violated. Roughhouse in the studio and it costs you an Eagle Buck.  Interrupt my “flow” and I can ask you for another Eagle Buck.

Today in a closing discussion, Eagles reflected on “lessons learned” from using Eagle Bucks to encourage high standards of self governance.  Below are some of our Eagle’s  tips if  you want to install a similar system in your business, home or learning community:

1.  Eagle Bucks can be used to defend your rights, but using them will not increase your standing in the learning community. Social standing in a community comes from using your gifts, working hard and being kind – not from enforcing rules. In other words, Eagles Bucks are a way to communicate, not a source of power.
2.  Eagle Bucks help set clear boundaries for community life. Run in the studio, and any Eagle can and should as for an Eagle Buck.   Eagle Bucks also protect an individual’s personal space, but this is a private matter.  If you see someone violating the rights of another, leave it to that Eagle to solve the problem ( unless bullying or coercion are involved.)
3.  If you are younger or new to the group, asking someone older and more established for an Eagle Buck probably isn’t a good idea. Let someone with more social status draw the line,  especially if it’s a trivial misstep. Unless, of course, the violation is serious and clear cut. Then calling out an Eagle with more status will elevate you for having the courage to “speak truth to power.”
4.  If you want to stop a slide in studio behavior, convince several people to agree to tighten up the standards and announce it as a group to the studio. This way, asking for Eagle Bucks will be seen as helping the Tribe rather than a petty act.
5.  You don’t need Eagle Bucks for close friends. If you ask a close friend to stop bothering you, he or she will respect you enough to listen.   A real friend will ask you for an Eagle Buck to improve your behavior, but only if you give them explicit  permission to do so.   You should see a friend asking for an Eagle Buck as an act of kindness, if you want to be held to high standards.
6.  Eagles Bucks do not work well for revenge or solving a serious relational problem. If you find yourself in a tit-for-tat battle or becoming angry, call for a face to face dispute resolution instead of continuing to ask for Eagle Bucks.
7.  If you are an established leader in the studio, you have a special responsibility to use Eagle Bucks to communicate your commitment to high community standards.  If you see a line being crossed – especially by a younger Eagle – you have a duty to ask for an Eagle Buck, using a voice and words that say – “You are better than this.”

Quite a few MS and LP Eagles seemed to be a little “under the weather” last week. Is the problem some sort of bug, we wondered?

And then we traced the mysterious aliment to a hidden treasure: Homemade Ice Cream.

One of our young Eagle Entrepreneurs has a thriving business selling homemade ice cream by the quart.  Problem is, it’s so good that his studio-mates can’t seem to stop at a bowl or two.

Homemade Ice Cream Flu.  Because some lessons simply must be learned the hard way.