“Hey can we do somewhere inside today because I don’t wanna sit on wet grass.” That’s the question I saw from a Learner when I checked the Abrome Discord channel in the morning.
The first day of the academic year was a beautiful late summer day where our only concern was if Learners were drinking enough water. Our second day was a remote day because of all-day thunderstorms. And our third day was expected to be cold (relatively, for Austin in September) with some light rain. As we begin the new year operating outdoors in small, physically distant operating cells, while onboarding four new Learners and a new Facilitator, we want to minimize discomfort and facilitate joyful experiences. But going indoors is not an option during this pandemic. So the answer was and will continue to be no. We met outdoors. Some complained about it being cold, with one Learner even wearing shoes to start the day. It was a Learner’s 16th birthday so I handed him a birthday card signed by the three Facilitators.
Unfortunately, one Learner did not complete their full daily screening before showing up so we needed to stop and have him complete the screening before allowing him to enter into the meet up spot. Then, with everyone present, and to combat the feeling of being cold (and to look for a place to get a good hotspot connection) we decided to walk to higher ground for our morning meeting. We walked until we ran into a stream that was dry when we did our practice run in mid-August. And then we turned up a hill and found a clearing among some juniper or cedar trees for our morning meeting. Some people made the trek pretty easily while others struggled a bit. We talked about the differences in walking in sandals, sneakers, and boots, and then settled in for our morning meeting.
Nostoc that we found all over the place thanks to the recent rain
It was a longer morning meeting as we are still trying to get to know one another, especially since we had a Learner joining us for the first time in-person. We played two truths and a lie to learn more about each other; we played the game look up, look down; and we talked about what we learned about ourselves in quarantine. We asked each other what we had hoped to do for the day, and then Facilitator Lauren noticed some gelatinous organic matter (nostoc) on the ground where we were standing. Some of us looked at it and played with it while some of the younger Learners drifted off. I pulled out my hotspot to host a call for remote Learners and found that this new location was not a good location, and then struggled through a call that kept freezing up.
After the remote call we collectively agreed to walk back toward our original meet up location where there were large rocks that people could sit on instead of having to sit in the wet grass. As we made our way back I noticed a side trail and convinced the group to investigate where it led. It led to some sort of concrete platform that overlooked the stream below, and then the youngest Learners led the group down another trail to see if it might lead to an interesting end. It led to the same steam at a different point, and then we decided to turn around.
At this point one of the Learners looked like they were really struggling with the walk, so we asked if we needed to take a break. There was some hesitation in the answer, most likely because most people wanted to keep walking. At that point someone suggested we vote on if we wanted to take a break or keep walking. And for the first time this year I was able to point out the shortcomings of democracy when the person who is most impacted is in the extreme minority. Instead we focused on consensus, centering the needs of the Learner who was most impacted, and asking what they felt comfortable with. And while consensus is better than democracy, the Learner seemed to go with the general wants of the group at their own expense. There really is no perfect system for making collective decisions, but we can keep working on being better.
We do not need to be indoors to create art
So we slowly moved back to our original meet up location and then had lunch. And during the lunch I got a call from the other cell and received word that a younger Learner had cut their thumb with their pocket knife and that it was bleeding and that they needed support. So Facilitator Lauren took charge of the cell and I jumped in my vehicle and drove the 20 minutes required to get to the other squad. When I got there I made show of putting on my mask before getting out of the vehicle, cleaning my hands with hand sanitizer, opening the first aid kit, taking out the gauze and tape, and putting on my gloves. I then invited the young Learner to step toward me where I wrapped his thumb, and then we immediately moved away from each other. While the interaction was short, it seriously compromised the notion of separate operating cells, and the Facilitators will discuss ways in which we can support each other without having to come into contact with each other, and come to an agreement of everything that each of our first aid kits requires.
The view from the top made the hike up the hill worth it
By the time I returned to my cell’s location, I was told they had moved toward the lake so I found a path to walk up behind to see if I could surprise them. I did. And there I found that Facilitator Lauren had pulled out art supplies for painting with water colors and a few of them were making cordage with a variety of colorful materials. There was conversation being had and everyone was getting to know one another. Some of us were feeling a bit chilly so the 16-year-old Learner and I decided to go on a hike to the top of the hill. We took it as a physical challenge and scaled the hill in one continuous movement without rests and by the time we got to the top we were spent. But the view was beautiful. After catching our breath we walked until we found some trails that slowly descended back toward the stream that we had found at the beginning of the day. We ran across a pretty collection of cairns sitting on top of a large rock, and soon after came out at the stream with a collection of small waterfalls. We used that opportunity to just take in the beauty of the place, to sit a little, and then we made our way back to the group. Although on future days I could see Learners sitting there for hours on end.
I imagine that we will also be building some cairns in the months to come
When we returned to the hangout spot by the lake where the rest of the cell was, we settled back into arts and crafts, conversation, and for the younger Learners, racing back and forth up and down a gentle hill. I set up the hotspot for a remote meeting and realized I finally found a good spot to host the remote meetings. Then we continued to chat until 3:30p when we held our afternoon roundup. A seven-year-old Learner took charge of the meeting and asked us how we were feeling, and in spite of some of the challenges that I faced during the day, I felt great. We are already finding comfort around each other, we are already sharing our feelings, and we are coming up with ideas for what we can do in the coming weeks and months. The Facilitators have some work to do to make sure that we don’t compromise our contingency plans and to make sure we are as best prepared as we can be for challenges we don’t yet know about, but for day three of what people consider pandemic schooling (we are not schooling) I feel great.
We found a great spot to sit and think