Welcome back! As you likely know, the big changes that I alluded to last year have manifested in my (now) husband and I moving back to Oklahoma to work at LAAS. We are so excited to embark on this adventure. After wrapping up a summer of working with the little ones, and the first week with the secondary students, we are feeling eager to dive in and have a great first year.
This first week was incredibly busy. Over the summer the school experienced impressive growth. We began this school year with more than 180 students. This growth was also represented in the secondary school. Where last year there were 46 students, this year there were 64. This translated to tight quarters for all of our orientation activities. By packing the students into one main area, we started the emphasis of that week: choice.
If you have been to the secondary building, you know that there is no one room that can seat 64 students. This meant that students had the choice to try to grab one of the limited seats, stand, sit on the floor, sit on the stage, etc. This might seem like unimportant information, but this choice says a lot about each student.
We have a large number of new students, (either completely new to the school, or just new to being in the secondary building) and many of these students were feeling anxious about the year. These students came early, asked a lot of questions about the day, and claimed one of the limited seats before the bell rang. These students were hyper-focused, taking in every piece of information.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have a group of juniors and seniors that have been going to the school for awhile and feel very comfortable in the space. These students could be found on the floor, on the stage, leaning against the wall, etc. They were claiming their space and the other students respected that. Where newcomers needed to pay close attention to the instructions, these kids have been hearing about speech and robotics for years.
Lastly, we had the kids that fit themselves into extra spaces. In some cases, these were kids that were not quite sure they wanted to be there, and they would sit alone, not for a lack of our students trying to connect with them. We had kids that felt uncomfortable for one reason or another standing in or just beyond the doorway. These are the students that made me take extra notice - the ones that have the choice to connect but choose to disappear or fade into the background.
It’s easy for gifted kids to be loners. There is a fear associated with putting yourself out there. For many, it is easier to be alone than to risk embarrassment. If this sounds like your child, please remind him that we are creating an environment in which it is safe to fail. Help him to understand the importance of connecting with those around him. Your child needs the fellow students, not only for friendship, but also for academic support. We are putting them through a rigorous program, and they need each other’s help to succeed.
For the remainder of the week we asked your child to make many more choices. They ran for offices, chose after school activities, and the leaders of each group deliberated and chose their team members. There are a lot of individual choices your children made this week, but the most important choice they can make for this school year, is to be involved. There are so many great opportunities for students to learn and grow this year. Encourage your children to take that risk and make the choice to participate.
- Bria