02 Sep First Day of School at SOM!!!

We started the school year off today with lots of fun activities and an amazing homemade mac & cheese lunch by Chef Neil! In the morning we got to know each other by creating a human chain that connected us by what we enjoy doing and, big surprise: we discovered that many of our students really enjoy playing video games, in addition to skateboarding, making art and playing basketball!

We also played “What I Like About Me.” Each student and coach wrote a trait about themselves on a piece of paper and placed it in a bucket. One at a time, papers were drawn and we would try to guess who wrote that trait! We have a diverse array of personalities in the building this year, including: sarcastic, optimistic, loving, smiley, kind, creative, and of course, “pretty sweet.”

Next we got down to business, going over how to navigate Google Drive, Gmail, and signing up for our end of day jobs. SOM operates similarly to a house: each student is responsible for chores that rotate every week. By working together and respecting our unique learning environment, we keep our schoolhouse organized and clean!

We rounded out the day with a couple of creative projects. First we used Sharpies to decorate a cup that will be our drinking cup throughout the year.  Then we collaborated on a canvas that will be a gift for the students at SOM Stuart! We asked each student to finish the sentence “Space of Mind is…” and write their answer in a square on the canvas. Here is the result…