Launching Acton Athens: A Week of Energy, Inquiry, and Hands-On Discovery (Dec 1–5)
Highlights: How did we turn learning upside down?
The studio returned from break with renewed energy—and stepped straight into a transformed studio: Acton Athens. Heroes began Session 3 immersed in games, challenges, and hands-on learning inspired by ancient Greece.
Learners are increasingly offering gentle, constructive reminders to help their fellow travelers stay focused and avoid distractions. These reminders are given and received with maturity, showing just how deeply the studio norms are becoming internalized.
This session the group has an Excellence Committee, made up of two Discovery Studio heroes, who began evaluating completed challenges and awarding coins—an exciting step toward learners managing the systems that shape their own learning environment.
With the launch of Acton Athens, heroes spent the week exploring ancient Greece in a variety of creative and meaningful ways.
We welcomed an archaeologist from our community on Friday who has done field work in Greece. Heroes learned about her Hero’s Journey, what archaeologists actually do, and had the opportunity to practice authentic archaeological methods—an experience they stepped into with great enthusiasm. (A full post celebrating this special visit is coming soon!)
We were invited by the township committee to decorate the Christmas tree at Centennial Hall—a lovely gesture that recognizes our heroes as part of the broader community. Heroes happily accepted and used part of their Scholar’s Choice time this week to create and hang decorations. It was a joyful moment of contributing to a shared space that many in our community enjoy.
The latest in educational technology for self-paced mastery in reading, writing, and math
Learners explored a new Journey Tracker feature this week:
a bar graph that visualizes the points they earn once they’ve set and logged their weekly goals.
Heroes loved the immediate feedback and started comparing how their daily choices influence long-term progress.
Hands-on, project-based Quests to master the tools and skills needed to solve problems in the real world
Our new Quest, Acton Athens, is officially underway. Over the coming weeks, learners will explore three core aspects of ancient Greek life:
Oikos — craftsmanship and home-centered skills
Academia — intellectual inquiry and scholarly challenges
Stoa — dialogue, expression, and debate
To complete challenges, heroes must purchase materials at the Agora, then sell their creations to earn more coins—mirroring the economic rhythms of ancient Greek communities.
The studio was alive with hands-on work this week:
sculpting
loom knitting
salt-dough map making
Every corner of the space hummed with focused creativity.
During the archaeologist’s visit, heroes used real tools and processes to simulate fieldwork. Working in specializations such as artifact analysis, archaeobotany, Greek alphabet deciphering, and illustration and recording, they practiced the careful teamwork and attention to detail required in archaeology.
Written promises and covenants that form a tightly bound community
This week the heroes reflected on: What counts as a fidget, and should they be allowed during launches?
After exploring differing perspectives, learners decided to bring the issue to Town Hall, demonstrating how they are getting more familiar with using Acton systems to resolve real studio dilemmas with fairness and collective responsibility.
Deep Socratic discussions about heroes, history, and self-governance
This session’s overarching question—“What motivates a leader: glory, wisdom, or serving others?”—sparked rich reflection on leadership and character.
Heroes also debated:
Are tough goals or easy goals more helpful for success?
Is it better to work first and play later, or the reverse?
What matters more: talent or grit?
Learners have now internalized many of the the Rules of Engagement that are used during Socratic discussions. Most have enforced the ones that are important to them during discussions.
Memorable quotes from learners this week
“I get paid to make fun things?”
“The salt dough’s taking ages… it’s also kind of fun.”
“I love knitting now.”
“We could make hats for a bunch of people!”
“I like bar graphs.”
“I am really proud of myself because I set a tough goal and then I achieved it.”
