Day 58, Wednesday, December 16th, meant that we only had five days left in the cycle. Because we require prospective Learners to shadow with us for five days, those who wished to enroll for January needed to begin shadowing no later than that Wednesday or wait until January to shadow. We had one Learner lined up to shadow since the beginning of the month, and we had a late shadower rush through the admissions process to also begin on Wednesday. We only had room for the additional shadower because one of the Learners who was originally meeting in-person moved to the remote cell due to exposure concerns. It was a hopeful day for everyone at Abrome, knowing that we may be able to grow our community as we launch into the new year.
At the in-person cell the Learners warmly received the two shadowers. Facilitator Lauren told an eight-year-old Learner that the 13-year-old shadower was into paleontology, and they both got right to talking about their interests. They both shared that they each had brought dinosaur books in their backpacks that day! The 15-year-old shadower was nervous, but talkative, and shared that she often had challenges in new settings. They joined the rest of the Learners and Facilitators in declaring intentions for the day, with the 13-year-old saying he hoped to learn a lot that day.
Facilitators Ariel and Lauren offered to host a Self-Directed Education panel to help introduce the shadowers to how SDE works outdoors, without coercion, and within the Abrome community. But the Learners decided that they did not want to settle down for a panel on that day, and suggested maybe trying it later in the week. Each of the Learners shared a bit about themselves to help make the shadowers feel more welcome, and then the shadowers chose to share a bit about themselves. A younger Learner shared that he was autistic, which put one of the shadowers at ease.
At the morning meeting for the remote cell, as we talked about what we had planned for the day, two adolescent Learners suggested that I write an open letter to school leaders about how they should approach schooling during this wave and the dangerously high levels of infection that we will likely face for much of the winter. So besides the offerings and meetings I had scheduled for the day, I added that to my list of goals. Two of the Learners missed the morning meeting, so I checked in with each and encouraged them to join us later in the day. For one of the Learners, we had a scheduled check-in after the morning meeting. He joined me ten minutes late, apologizing for sleeping in. Some folks just don’t appreciate how much adolescents need sleep. Even with a 10:00 a.m. start time, which is much later than the schools in the area, Abrome Learners still are not getting enough sleep.
Ready to ride
At the in-person cell, one of the adolescent Learners and Facilitator Ariel bought brought their bikes to ride. Together they went with another adolescent Learner and the 13-year-old shadower to The Bridge. At The Bridge the former challenged themselves on their bikes, while the latter painted. The older shadower stayed with Facilitator Lauren and the younger Learners, and got into a long conversation with Lauren. After extended conversation the shadower shared that she felt a sense of trust with Facilitator Lauren, even though she does not trust people often.
Some were attracted to the heat, others to the marshmallows
Later, the Facilitators, Learners, and shadowers met up at The Bowl. Facilitator Lauren brought a camp stove, and the group roasted vegan marshmallows and made hot chocolate. The stove and the associated hot treats have been a huge hit this cold December cycle. The adolescent Learners and shadowers spent much of their time hanging around the fire, while the younger Learners were running around playing. One of the Abrome Learners and the 15-year-old shadower connected on their shared interests in mythology, and then art. The shadower then made some art out of a stick she had charred in the camp stove.
At one point, one of the shadowers started to drift away from the group as he explored the area. One of the adolescent Learners went up to him and said that she also used to go off on her own, but that she learned that it is important for us to build up trust with each other before folks begin to venture out on their own. Also, that they should bring a walkie talkie with them, as well. Facilitator Lauren added that she wanted shadowers to stick near Facilitators for now, until they could be sure that the shadowers had a good sense of where they were and that they could quickly be found if need be. It was a great example for the shadower of how we value autonomy, but also how we are a community that looks out for each other and therefore we need to agree to certain boundaries.
This cycle seems to be all about finding a good vantage point
I had two check-ins on the day. In the afternoon I met with an adolescent Learner who wanted to talk about Elon Musk trolling people over pronouns on Twitter. After he gave me a synopsis of what happened, I responded that I did not think that is was particularly amusing that this billionaire felt the need to call out trans and non-binary people over pronouns. We then got into a discussion over what it means to be ‘triggered,’ if being ‘triggered’ is sometimes a better option than mocking people, and what people with power can do with their time. Later in the day, I stumbled across a blog post which expanded on some of the points that I made and shared it with him on Discord. After the check-in it was time for my Free Write offering. Only one Learner has been coming to the offering which I have been hosting each day, and on this day I continued to work on the open letter, which I later published.
Back at the in-person cell one of the older Learners threw a stick onto the rock ledge above them and a rock fell off and grazed the head of one of the shadowers. While being outdoors is far safer during this pandemic than being indoors (the odds of transmitting Covid-19 in a closed environment are nearly 19 times greater than in open-air environments) being outdoors does carry risks. This point was made clear on day one of this prospective Learner’s shadow. Both the Learner who got hit with a rock and the Learner who threw the stick were shaken and upset by the experience. After receiving an ice pack and realizing that it was a minor injury, the shadower leaned over and assured the Learner that she knew that he did not mean to hurt her. He said that he felt terrible that he did something that hurt her, and she responded that she hoped he would feel better soon. The shadower then shared how trustworthy everyone seemed at Abrome, and how it was in start contrast to her experiences at school where bullies reigned. The other shadower then added on that he has always always seemed to stand out as weird at school, and Facilitator Lauren responded, “welcome to your tribe.”
A friendly reminder from the Abrome crew to give a damn