This is Speedy. He’s so fast that, according to his friends, if you ever tag him, just once, just with very tip of the longest finger on your longest arm, on the fastest day of your own life, you will be accomplished, and can deservedly feel proud. He is a Playground Boss, a Mover, a Rule Maker, and an occasional Rule Breaker. He gets the spirit of the law here: “don’t hurt anybody, don’t break their stuff, and don’t break the school.” He hunts mushrooms, laughs easily, and destroys video games handily; he can also make a square with one hand while the other makes a circle. He is a Gaming Philosopher: once, when tasked with an onerous clean-up job at school, he told me he had actually managed to manufacture some real enjoyment out of it, by game-ifying it. He said he turned it into his own “little game,” and added that he might play it again soon. Speedy is growing fast, too; he is a streak of sunshine, a ribbon of energy. We can’t believe our luck to have him here, running exuberant circles around us; we’ll be very proud indeed if we ever catch up.
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.