This is Fifi, and if you ever find yourself in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, you might want to call him, because he specializes in heroically putting zombies in their place, which is in the ground, I guess. At school, it’s not unusual to see him streaking by a window, running zombies down, or in the tech room, patiently hunting them down. He’s fierce, sharp, and funny, and he has a new sweater that says, “No Rules” on it. He’s a LEGOs man, he speaks Polish, and he likes pasta and meat for lunch. He break dances, too. “Yeah I’m super good at that,” he says. We noticed, Fifi, and we love that confidence, and we’re so pleased you’re here, challenging yourself and growing heroically, and enjoying your life, and making ours better, and eating pasta and meat for lunch in the office.
Opportunities
At Zena Democratic School, we pride ourselves on offering our students endless opportunities; they are free to pursue their interests, dabble in this and that, or to fall head over heels into a subject without interruption – for as long as the interest remains, or to follow it wherever it may lead.
But the most valuable opportunity we offer students is the time and space to discover who they are. Students at ZDS have time to be, to think, to talk, to play, to discover what they enjoy and appreciate and, equally importantly, what they don’t enjoy or appreciate. We offer an opportunity to practice crucial skills such as motivation, persistence, articulation, and humility, to be part of a democratic community, and to experience acceptance, cooperation, recognition, and celebration. This unstructured time is where the real beauty of the ZDS experience lies and where the most important learning usually takes place.
However, many people do love content and instruction, and there is plenty of organized and formal activity at school. Students often organize this on their own, or with the assistance or leadership of a Staff Member, but they may also request the Programming Clerk to facilitate whatever kind of instruction or activity they’d like to have, from basic reading instruction to skateboarding lessons to sex education; every topic under the sun is theoretically available for our students to explore and to receive instruction upon.