For the first month of school, our grades 8's are making stuff.
They are building, creating, and solving problems. They are working in small groups and struggling to accomplish very real, very tangible tasks, that challenge and stretch them. They are being pulled out of their comfort zones and here's the best part.
They are learning. They are loving it. They want more.
There is no homework. There are no marks. They are embracing the process and the journey more than the final product.
For the first month, grade 8 students engage in what is known as the Grade 8 Project (G8P). They do not sit in traditional classes. Rather they engage in activities, on campus and off, that are radically different than what they normally do in school.
We have crafted a program to push students to take the initiative, rather than await instruction. We want to move our students beyond the "one and done" mindset so they understand that iteration and reworking a draft is a life skill that they can apply to all of their learning. We want them to understand that teamwork is not easy and takes effort.
Students selected their projects based on themes and will participate in 4 out of 10 projects during the two weeks they are not on our Explore program: Siege and Destroy; Pinhole Camera; Where did you get that?; Radio Plays; Boomerang; Recycled Harmony; Whip it!; Poetry; Language and Artistic Spaces; Green Roof.
Some of you will read this and say, "cool." Some may say, "what a waste of time." Your response might even be, "fair enough, but when will the real school start?"
Let me tell you what happened as a direct result of the grade 8 project (G8P).
When I first visited the school over two years ago, I was struck by two things at our Morven campus. First, the sheer beauty of our building and how it was oriented so perfectly within the natural world so as to take in the majesty of Grouse mountain from every angle. Second though, was the lost opportunity to teach. Our school buildings are not as green as they should be and our kids know it. New school buildings should utilize design to intentionally and overtly teach the kids about environmental sustainability.
Fast forward to last week. Four of our grade 8 girls set up a meeting and made a passionate plea for us to explore retrofitting Morven with a green roof based entirely on the green roof models that they tested and built during G8P!
What are we doing next? In two weeks those girls, our Director of Facilities, and Vancouver's leading green roof consultant will be touring our roof to examine the feasibility of such a proposal.
I sincerely don't know where this exploration will go. The end goal is secondary. What really excites me is that the kids are jazzed about improving their own lives and that of their community. They took something from school and brought it to real life. They are looking to leave a legacy. They will learn how to make proposals, budget, and endure the humbling process of convincing people about how to embrace a bold, audacious, difficult idea.
In short, they will be learning lessons for life.