Wednesday, May 5th was our 135th day of the pandacademic year. On this day, I facilitated the morning meeting for the cell I was a part of. I prepared three prompts for the meeting that I had hoped would spark an interesting conversation for our group that ranged from the youngest to the oldest Learners at Abrome. The prompts were: (1) When society is doing something harmful, what should you do about it? (2) What is society doing now that is hurtful (locally, state, nation, world)? (3) What should you do about it? The meeting stretched on as everyone took the prompts seriously, with each sharing their thoughts. One of the adolescent Learners who is normally quite reserved opened up in surprising ways during the conversation.
Relaxing in the water
Some of the ways that the group felt they should respond to society doing something harmful included helping someone who is affected by it; protest and rally to change the minds of leaders; introspect, talk about it, and participate in communities that are supporting people; help create alternatives that can undermine systems of harm; and “if you see something say something.”
What they felt society was doing now that is hurtful included racism; police abuse of power; removing and destroying homeless settlements; discrimination against AAPI and LGBTQ communities; devaluing and destroying the natural world; and the criminalization of people who are already hurting.
What they felt they should do about it included supporting the impacted communities, and donating or joining relevant organizations; filming the police; connecting people with nature, especially young people to reestablish connection with nature; supporting organizations that help people recover from the impacts of criminalization; and making books or movies about racism.
Great spot for sun
The day was going to be short for some of us, as one Learner was going to leave early for some skin art, I was going to drop some books off with a prospective family and schedule a call with another prospective family, and another Learner would end up going home because of an unfortunate run-in with a bunch of bugs. After the uncharacteristically long morning meeting, we walked to the river so that the Learner who had planned to depart early could enjoy some time there. After 45 minutes we walked back to the pickup spot together and then hung out on some large rocks talking about life while waiting for her ride.
After the Learner had left, I drove out to the home of four prospective Learners to drop off some books, and got to say hello to the 12-year-old girl member of the crew. I then returned to Abrome and scheduled a call with the family of four more prospective Learners for the next day, as well as trying to organize shadows for other prospective Learners who said they wanted to shadow with us before the end of the academic year.
Enjoying the temporary stream
Meanwhile, back at the cell, the Learners broke out the inflatable paddle board until one of the Learners who was on shore had a run in with a bunch of insects. The bites were nothing serious but he was ready to go home. On his walk back to the pickup spot they spotted a bunch of eggs that were located at the base of a tree and relayed that information back to the group still at the lake.
The rest of the crew did their best to enjoy themselves on the water but on this day a large number of local high school kids showed up for what would quickly turn into a very loud party, complete with fermented drinks and funny smelling cigarettes, if you know what I mean. Facilitator Lauren raised the desire to cede the space to the kids who seemed to have been let out of school early, as their presence (density, noise, smells) coupled with the increasing intensity of the heat seemed overwhelming. The other Learners agreed and they decided to take a walk to the first waterfall for the short remainder of the day. On their way they kept their eyes open for the eggs (later determined to be chicken eggs that someone had inexplicably placed there). It was a short stay at the waterfall, where they had their afternoon roundup. The discussed what was enjoyable about the day, what they had wanted to do but did not do, and what they wanted to do the next day.
Gaming in nature I guess
At the other cell, a Learner returned from his day off for his Star Wars birthday (May the Fourth be with you). Facilitator Ariel handed him the birthday card that all the Facilitators signed for him, and then the crew decided to walk to the location they dubbed “the cave” for their morning meeting. There, one of the adolescent Learners volunteered to lead the morning meeting.
While the walk was long, the Learners largely stayed in one place the entire day, enjoying the water and each other. Two of the Learners really focused on taking in all that nature had to offer them that day, soaking up the rays of the sun, appreciating the sounds of the water flowing by, and getting their feet wet and appreciating all that was happening on the bed of the temporary stream. Two of the Learners meanwhile spent much of their time playing video games on a phone. Not how I would spend my day but it worked for them. One of them did take some time to check out the water, and both seemed to appreciate the hike to and from the cave. At the end of the day another Learner led the afternoon roundup. He asked what everyone was excited about and consensus was that they were excited about the shadowers who would be joining us in the coming cycle. On the long walk back, Facilitator Ariel was able to have a deep conversation with one of the adolescents who is working through a lot in their life.
A great place to relax
Water fight!
On Thursday, May 6th, I was fully remote, focusing on administrative tasks. On the day I had a great 71-minute call with a family looking to shadow with us, and I communicated with other families, as well, to include one that may be moving from Mexico to join us! I was also compelled to write a blog post distancing ourselves from a nature educator in the area who has been vocal in his support of actively harming the houseless population as a means of ‘cleaning up’ the city. I also wanted to raise the awareness that educators have been complicit in the criminalization of the houseless. Too often many on the political left believe that if only we school more we will have a more tolerant, more peaceful society, but they ignore that the people run and are employed by the school come from our current society, and they ignore the explicit aims of schooling.
At the cell that I would have otherwise been at that day, many other Learners were also out. This left only one Learner and Facilitator Lauren. The Learner was given the option of staying home by his mom, but he chose to stay for the day and spend it one-on-one with Facilitator Lauren. But with flexibility in mind, they decided to relocate to another park for the day. The mom went home and picked up some water blasters and floaties, while Facilitator Lauren pulled out some water noodles.
At the park they went to, the young Learner thoroughly took in having Facilitator Lauren all to himself for the day. They got in a water blaster battle, played volleyball, sat in the sand, swam with noodles, and just enjoyed the green grass. It was a great day for both, and it would most certainly be the last time that only one Learner would be showing up for an Abrome day.
Meanwhile, at the other cell they had another hiking day. A long hike that gave the Learners plenty of opportunity to take in the beauty of the hill country in spring. When they finally settled down at a spot near the water, one of the Learners rested against a tree limb with his feet in the water. Nearby a toad was also appreciating the view, or maybe it was looking for food. The only thing that was not relaxing about the day for the other cell was that it was determined that there was a monster prowling in the water. Fortunately no one was hurt.