Weekly Updates
Preschool / Spark Studio (PS) Update
It was a great start to Week 1 of Sprint 6. For this Sprint, the PS Eagles will be exploring architecture and design … culminating in their designing a model of their own Dream Home!
My Cool Building & The Architect
In Week 1, the PS Eagles explored cool buildings, getting inspiration from a video on the World’s Coolest Building. They reflected on what they liked about certain buildings, and why. They were inspired to draw their own cool buildings and had fun imagining all their details.
A PS Eagle asked, “What is an architect? I don’t really understand.” After watching a video on architects, the Guide asked, “How can you find out more about architects?” After some thinking, the Eagle said, “Mr. Aaron, I will search online and ask around.” Wow! The Eagles are owning their own learning!
Floor Plans
The PS Eagles were also introduced to the concept of the floor plan … which made them realise that what they envisage for the outside of a building is totally different when you talk about the interior. On one day, they attempted to draw floor plans of their bedrooms. On another day, they were challenged to draw a floor plan of their house from memory.
Interior Scavenger Hunt
To generate awareness of their home environment, the PS Eagles were challenged with an interior scavenger hunt in which they went around their homes taking note of the items that make up their house, including windows, chairs, stairs, sinks, fans and so on. They recorded how many of these items were in their home so that they had an idea of what they would place into their Dream Homes.
We ended the week by getting the Studio ready for its reopening on 1st July … an exciting prospect! The PS Eagles are very excited and can’t wait to see each other again! They hope that the ES and MS Studios can open up again soon, too!
Elementary Studio (ES) Update
Art Packs
The ES Eagles came in to the Studio on Monday morning to collect their art packs that had been prepared for a special Art Challenges Sprint. The packs included the art supplies and materials that they would need to complete all the art challenges throughout the Sprint and the colours and materials inspired the ES Eagles back into an artistic mood! The packs included a surprise gift for the ES Eagles … hopefully they enjoyed the surprise!
Recreate a Famous Artwork
The ES Eagles were challenged to ‘visit’ the Getty Museum to choose a famous artwork that inspired them. They then used items in their homes to recreate the famous artwork.
The ES Eagles thoroughly enjoyed the recreation challenge. Many of them spent hours on their recreation and were excited to see their fellow Eagles’ interpretations. They were impressed at the creativity and there were many ‘wow’ reactions.
Dot Mandala
The ES Eagles discovered that art can be therapeutic when they created dot mandalas. The act of dotting paint patiently in patterns radiating out to the edge of the paper absorbed the Eagles and gave them satisfaction and the completed pieces are soothing to look at. Some ES Eagles are eager to continue doing dot mandalas as they find that it is a good way to relieve negative emotions.
Writer’s Workshop
Writer’s Workshop this Sprint is Journal Writing with prompts to awaken their love of writing and stir their imaginations. There were 2 prompts this week:
Gratitude Challenge
The ES Eagles were given a Gratitude Challenge for this Sprint. In the Gratitude Challenge, they will cultivate their feelings of gratitude every week in order to bring in more happiness and abundance in their lives.
The ES Eagles found things and people in their lives to be grateful for, no matter how big or small. They realised, in thinking about it, that there is always something in their lives to be grateful for.
Creative Thinking
The Creative Thinking Challenge is back! The quirky squiggles and doodles that the ES Eagles were so triggered by last Sprint have returned to elicit all sorts of creative ideas. Some of the drawings were simple, and some were really elaborate. Here’s to thinking out of the box!
PE
This Sprint PE is Eagle-led, and Arjun volunteered to lead the first session of the Sprint. His plan was a fun scavenger hunt that had his fellow ES Eagles running all around their homes grabbing things like something coloured white or even their pets and showing them to him to advance to the next round. This was followed by a round of HIIT exercises.
Farewell to Ms. Caryn
The ES Eagles and parents led a sweet farewell via Zoom to their beloved Ms. Caryn, one of the co-founding Guides of ActonKL. Having been a loving and supporting Guide to both the ES Eagles and parents alike, Ms. Caryn has been considered the ‘mother figure’ in ActonKL ever since she co-founded the Malaysia branch 4 years ago. Now an actual mother to new son Jeremiah, Ms. Caryn has decided to focus on her family.
The ES Eagles and their parents all sent their love and well-wishes to Ms. Caryn and she shared baby Jeremiah with them. This was followed by a spate of pet-sharing and a heartwarming farewell to Ms. Caryn. We wish you all the best in the next step of your Hero’s Journey, Ms. Caryn!! We will miss you!
Middle Studio (MS) Update
Week 1 (Apprenticeship Preparation Badge)
Monday Morning Launch
The MS Eagles shared how they spent the 1 week break. Haidan, Hadiya, Dhanya and Aqeesha all shared that it wasn’t really a break as they had to fulfill all the orders that they received from last Sunday’s Children’s Business Fair. “The whole week was just doing that.”
It was good to reconnect, however, and the MS Eagles realigned to a work mindframe.
Thursday Midday Launch – Hero’s Journey (Gifts, Flow and Opportunities)
This Sprint is the Apprenticeship Launch to inspire the MS Eagles to think about what the Gifts, Flow and Opportunities of real heroes like Captain Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger could be. They were encouraged to compare those with their own Gifts, Flow and Opportunities.
The discussion was lively for the 4 MS Eagles who participated. It was inspiring to see the level of self-awareness in the MS Eagles – that they were able to talk candidly about their own gifts and those of their fellow Eagles.
The MS Eagles who were present wished that more of their fellow Eagles had been there so that the discussion could have been further enriched. The overall energy of the Studio through Wednesday and Thursday seemed to dip low, and the MS Eagles decided to think about how to rev things up.
Friday Midday Launch – Dream Job vs Nightmare Job
This launch was to inspire the MS Eagles to consider what their dream job would look like, as well as what their nightmare job would be. Both are equally helpful to the MS Eagles in their preparation for their next apprenticeship and, later on, in life. It’s important to know what you DON’T want, as well as what you DO want.
The MS Eagles had a blast defining what characteristics of a job were deal-breakers in finding their dream jobs.
There was also a short but eye-opening discussion about whether being a mortician could ever be anyone’s dream job, or is it everyone’s nightmare job. Aqeesha said, “Seeing how it is a zero-risk occupation, if I were to choose, being a mortician is closer to a dream job than a nightmare job.” An interesting insight, indeed!
Dream Jobs of the MS Eagles:
Haidan: Tik Tok Influencer
Ra’ees: Professional Fortnite Player
Evan: Employee at Google Malaysia or a cool cafe
Dhanya: Lawyer
Aqeesha: Business Owner
Nightmare Jobs of the MS Eagles:
Haidan: Taxi Driver
Evan: Entrepreneur (as they tend to work themselves harder compared to anyone else)
Aqeesha: Working for certain politicians
The majority of the MS Eagles agreed that working at a desk/office job would be w nightmare job for them.
Overall, the discussion was fun and funny. The energy was slightly pulled down by poor ROE and a problem with unstable volume on Google Hangouts.
