This is Phi, but don’t let the brevity of his nickname – or his abridged height – fool you; he’s a nimble, fearless skier, skateboarder, *and* surfer, a dexterous and deft bundle of skilled muscle. Not only muscle either, he’s got some robust organs besides, most notably those sonorous pipes – when he opens wide to let forth a tune in a school musical the audience’s jaws drop, too, like where is that big, rich voice coming from anyway? Phi is the life of the party, master of madcap humor and practical jokes, ready-witted and quick-smiling. He wears his heart on the sleeve of his ski jacket, unaffected; when he’s down, he cries, when he’s up he laughs exuberantly. Phi has two siblings, plus close cousins; he is a pack-animal, and, the oldest, a tender caretaker of his Littles. He packs with his friends, too, with whom he is the junior, and if they occasionally complain of him snatching at their snacks, they abide by him the way he abides by his own younger mates, and love him all the more. He’s is a fine and curious conversationalist, and not only in English; try him in Russian, or Japanese. He’s going on the big school trip to Latvia in April, so maybe he’ll pick up a few more languages. Phi is also an insightful fashionista – his clothes match him as well as the feathers of a hawk – and he brings color and shape aplenty, an abundance of aesthetic delight and vibrant energy, to our campus every day. Phi, we feel so hashtagblessed to be journeying with you, and honored to be your friends, and giddy to see what’s next.
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.