CHOICE An Acton Academy

What would you imagine school to look like if there were no rules created by adults? As we reflected on our week, we saw that with freedom came frustration, messiness, sadness, anger, literal and figurative headaches AND the opportunity to take responsibility for all these emotions! We saw the extra effort and time that freedom requires, and with it recognized the leadership, increased capabilities and capacity, ownership, sense of accomplishment, accountability, gratitude, problem solving tools, creativity, innovation, meaningful work and responsibility that came with it. Just like our founding fathers were willing to sacrifice for their freedom, our CHOICE heroes are willing to sacrifice for their own freedoms. And just like the challenges and beauty that we have seen arise from our nation’s freedoms, we watch our children wrestle with the challenges and bask in the joys that come from their freedom. What comes along with freedom? Enough that it makes the sacrifices absolutely worth it! Read the blog this week to learn more! https://lnkd.in/gBNuEnPR https://lnkd.in/giNEJqRS

We are hiring for two different positions. Each position is essentially as a life coach for children. We are looking for someone that builds people up, inspires, and has fun with children. These are the open positions: https://lnkd.in/dpttdUv3 What is a Quest Guide? A Quest is a three to six week series of hands-on learning challenges. It is bound by individual and team-based gamification, a compelling narrative, and ends with a high-stakes Exhibition. Quests are designed to deliver 21st-century “learn to learn” (processes and frameworks), “learn to do,” and “learn to be” skills. We are seeking a Socratic Guide who is passionate about guiding children ages 7-11?on their independent journey of life-long learning, who is committed to trusting children, who sincerely sees the genius in all children, and who likes to have fun! Guides are expected to prepare the learning environment and materials, lead discussions, inspire our heroes to explore, be curious, and take ownership of their learning. What is CHOICE: CHOICE: An Acton Academy is a Pre K-9 independent school located in Woods Cross, Utah that provides a truly unique and revolutionary “disruptive” educational model and is affiliated with the Acton Academy Network. We emphasize Socratic guidance as opposed to traditional teaching, mixed-aged classrooms with a self-paced curriculum as opposed to grade-levels, and life-oriented quests that culminate in a public exhibition of their learning as opposed to test scores and report cards. Within the boundaries of safe guardrails, students (and their families) are empowered to be in the driver seat of their learning in an environment that is truly theirs. Moreover, our goal is to support each learner on their Hero’s Journey as they seek to find callings and change the world. Each day is an exciting experiment in motivation, passion and community. If interested, please take a look at our website: www.choice-education.org to get a better idea of what our unique and revolutionary school is like. Preferred experience:? Most important: Demonstrated excellence in an area of passion Secondary (NOT required): Woodworking skills, IT experience, science background Desired attributes: Self-driven Curious Life-long learner Creative ideas Ability to organize and carry out ideas Warm hearted and tough minded Love of children Ability to collaborate Willingness to give and receive feedback Required license or certification: None Other Details:? Start date: July 2024 Our guides serve as pillars of our learning environment and receive competitive pay, commensurate with experience. Job Type: Part time. 7 hours in person Monday-Thursday 36 weeks/year + the equivalent of 6 hours/week prep time (completed whenever and wherever the Guide wishes) + 30 hours initial training (completed over the summer wherever the Guide wishes)

Big thanks to John Evans at Mountain West Small Business Finance for encouraging entrepreneurship and making the children's business fair in Bountiful such as success! Their sponsorship helped build a marketplace for these budding entrepreneurs and encourages them to #DreamBIG

Is it your calling in life to empower children to grow their beliefs and skills to change the world? Do you wish you were working hard with a small, mission-driven, world-class team of entrepreneurs changing the vision of education? If so, we have two positions opening up for next year! Link in comments!

On Thursday at the beginning of Core Skills I asked a FS hero what he was excited to work on during Core Skills. He replied that he had already finished his goals for the week (responsibility), but he was not prepared for quest today (responsibility) and he was really excited to work on his Quest challenges during Core Skills today (freedom). He looked truly excited about it! As I walked around later during Individual Core Skills and enjoyed observing what different Fire Studio heroes were silently engaged in, I peered over the shoulder of a boy who was very intently working on his Writer's Gym. I couldn't see the question, I could only see his answer. What I read: "I love school. It feels like vacation." I was amused that he was describing school as vacation when this active boy was sitting silently, working hard on writing. As I walked away, I asked myself why? Why does it feel like vacation to him? There are likely multiple answers to that question, but perhaps one answer is that the freedom this hero has helps it feel like vacation. Nobody is forcing him to work hard, he is choosing it. Sometimes the connection is messy, and there is definitely not just one pattern that connects freedom and responsibility, but combine the freedom to choose with the meaning that comes with responsibility and you get a vacation that I hope never ends!

A few weeks ago, the young adults at CHOICE got to visit The Other Side Academy. Dave Durocher has built something really special over the last decade or two. TOSA changes lives and it is such a powerhouse for good! Do you know what the secret sauce is behind TOSA? TOSA is a peer-driven community, just like CHOICE. To build such a powerful community requires good communication, intrapersonal hard work, and a desire to be a part of something great. We had all sorts of questions for them about how they function, what happens when something goes wrong, and how they interact and learn from each other. The modeled a peer feedback session, which was super meaningful to us. A huge shoutout to TOSA and all the good they are doing and for being world-class examples of a peer-driven community!

To finish out the year, we threw a huge party for some new adult friends, complete with hero led games, decorations, personal cards, and a performance. It was so much fun to have everyone together on this! Also a surprise visit from #santaclaus !

There's a lot happening in Utah! CHOICE An Acton Academy got a shout out this morning from Kerry McDonald - thanks! https://lnkd.in/gpM5JGFR