I was chagrined. I didn’t have a satisfying answer and I wanted a great answer. What as a school were we doing to honor, celebrate and advance the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday? Of course, there has always been fabulous individual teachers who have led their class, throughout the year, in meaningful lessons on Dr. King, civil rights, anti-bias work, social justice, and other related topics. But I was thinking about us as an institution. And I just didn’t have a great answer. Continue reading
Author Archives: Ryan Masa
The Start of a New Tradition
I enjoy writing about the Thanksgiving season at Assets. The focus on community and gratitude is heartwarming. Of course, our goal is to find ways to extend and make these efforts part of our typical school day, across the whole year. For example, if you attend one of our weekly assemblies, you’ll hear students publicly read notes of thanks from our Good Vibrations Station. These messages recognize good friends, kind deeds, supportive teachers, excellent colleagues and many others who make our school such a wonderful place. This is a tradition that students started three years ago and one we’ve held dear since. I am thankful for this since we know that gratitude not only has wide-ranging personal benefits but it can be cultivated through practice. Continue reading
Coming To America
Yesterday was one of my favorite days at Assets School. What makes it even more special is that it doesn’t come around every year. Because we have multi-age homerooms, our curriculum is presented in cycles, as opposed to repeating each year. Yesterday was the day our 5th/6th graders participated in the immigration simulation! Continue reading
Candles and Mirrors
On PBL Night, you could attend a concert, a food tasting, go geocaching, design a library…
Mahalo to everyone who was able to come out to campus last Wednesday to attend our Middle School Project-Based Learning (PBL) Expo! It was a wonderful evening. A real celebration of our students, their talents, interests and learning. Continue reading