What do you call a day where everyone shows up for remote meetings, but only three Learners show up in-person? You can call it day 55.
This fourth cycle of the pandacademic year has thrown us a few curveballs. It was the first cycle that we had to make one cell remote because we entered into risk stage level four in our county. It was the first cycle without Facilitator Jennifer, and with Facilitator Ariel. It was the first cycle that a Facilitator (Antonio) was fully remote, meaning that Facilitator Lauren would be helping to train up Facilitator Ariel. It was also the first cycle that we had to make some difficult calls about who needed to be remote for the cycle. Surprisingly to us, it was the first cycle we had shadowers join us (three of them!). And it was the first cycle where we moved away from the green spaces that we had been getting used to since September. We have done our best to remain agile and flexible as we’ve gone outdoors in small, physically distant cells of no more than 9 people each.
Everyone showed up for the remote morning meeting! It was the first time that they all showed up to a meeting since one of the Learners was forced to move from the in-person cell to the remote cell. Meanwhile, in the in-person cell, one Learner couldn’t make it because they did not have a ride, and another Learner took a personal day. Coupled with no shadowing prospective Learner and having had one Learner go remote, on top of starting with a smaller cell than the remote cell from the very beginning of the cycle, the in-person cell seemed tiny for the day. Not that the three young Learners who showed up were complaining, as they had the full attention of two Facilitators.
After the remote morning meeting, one of the Learners stuck around to talk to me on Zoom. He is always interested in the business aspects of things so he asked about Abrome’s strength as a going concern. As we talked about the challenges that the pandemic has posed to our community, he stated that he does not want Abrome to close. While I know that he cares about Abrome, I was surprised to hear him say it so plainly. This particular Learner, who has been with us since the day we opened in the fall of 2016, has had some rough moments at Abrome, more so than all the other current Learners combined, and he has said more than once in moments of frustration that he does not want to come back to Abrome. We have had some really challenging moments discussing how to maximize autonomy within a community, and have had long conversations around topics such as consensus decision-making, honoring commitments, and nonviolent communication.
I told him that I did not want Abrome to close either, and that after losing a couple of Learners that we were now growing, ever so slowly. I told him that this pandemic has parents scared about the future and that many are clinging even harder to the false notion of schooling as a safety net that will at the very least not allow their children to fall down the economic ladder from where they are at now. But despite that, that a tiny percentage of families would appreciate our approach to community care in the face of pandemic. That they would want to be a part of an education community that was willing to make bad business decisions such as going outdoors in small groups for the year, as opposed to the schools who chose the more profitable business decision of bringing everyone indoors so they can absorb families who are fed up with virtual schooling or requirements for kids to wear masks in class. And that this was a continuation of us having always made bad business decisions such as allowing kids to practice freedom, refusing to force them to do math or language arts each day, or forcing them to perform for parents once every six weeks. Because sometimes good business decisions are really harmful to kids and families.
I then asked him why exactly it was that he did not want Abrome to close. He told me it is because everyone is nice and he gets to play computer games. And that was a good enough answer for me.
Investigating the golden ant colony they found
The in-person cell was having a blast that day. They chose not to hike so they could recover from all the physical exercise over the prior four days. They stayed at what they call the Rock Wall and made hot chocolate. One Learner forgot his water bottle that morning, so he left for the second half of the day, leaving them with a 1:1 Learner-to-Facilitator ratio! They found some fascinating golden colored ants that took there attention for quite some time. They also had a conversation about what they would do if there was lightning in the area, as the forecast suddenly shifted to the possibility of thunderstorms over the next hour. Fortunately the weather was perfect that afternoon.
The remote cell found no cool golden ants, but we did do a free write that afternoon where a Learner showed up and shared the hour with me. That same Learner later led the afternoon meeting. Her prompt for the meeting was asking the other Learners about their intentions for the weekend. She then adjourned the meeting, and I got back to work trying to find ways to allow parents to trust that they can allow their children to practice freedom. It may not be the best business decision in terms of growing enrollment, but it is good for the soul.
Lots of interesting finds on this Friday