Building trucks to understand the 1st and 2nd laws of thermodynamics
Making learning about potential energy, kinetic energy and friction hands-on
Huh-knee Bah-jers
(clap-clap, clap-clap-clap)
Art for center court of the gym has arrived
Looks dope
Or in gen alpha, it looks tuff
Just in case, it may (or may not) be some of these too:
Sigma, rizzy, has aura, skibidi
The chess robot has arrived
The interest in playing against it has been very high so another student is now working on a reservation app so students can sign up for it
Love to see it.
It's always Go time
Guides and students alike trying to learn this ancient strategy game during break
Yesterday, the Livingston Mayor (Mayor Shawn Klein) and Councilman Anthony came by Forge and took students' questions for 45 mins.
Students asked about their biggest challenges and most ambitious projects leading Livingston.
They also asked them for advice on how they might solve issues they've encountered in their own community - whether it be speeding cars on streets to broken sidewalks to inaccessible playing fields.
The big takeaway from the event is that you have power to change things no matter what your age.
Bedazzling sneakers is a new snacktime activity that has organically popped up
Some conversations also had about whether this could be a business, i.e. bedazzling others sneakers
WDYT? Would you buy a bedazzling service?
A breakdown of the animal trackers the team has built and what they’re observing and the data they’re tracking
Once they know what kind if visitors we have in the area, they will figure out how to protect or deter them so that whatever we plant in the garden remains safe
3 tableaus from improv
Can you guess the story?
They did a great job so this one should be easy
BTW, a tableau is a silent, frozen physical picture created by one or more actors to visually capture a specific moment
The Forge Prep uniform decision captured
When admitted, students kept asking if Forge has uniforms
So we said, you decide
That culiminated in this town hall
Their persuasive speeches brought together their work on (1) claim, evidence, reasoning (CER), (2) pathos, logos, ethos, (3) cost modeling and much more.
People often report being more afraid of public speaking than death 😳, but Forge students will get lots of reps and soon enough, they’ll be able to own any room they walk into
Are you surprised by what they decided? Our team was.
You better get this one
These are 3 tableaus from a famous book that our students enacted
Do you recognize the book?
For reference: A tableau in improv is a silent, frozen physical picture created by performers to represent a specific moment, relationship, or setting in a story
You better get this one
Our 5th to 8th graders have resumes
You're thinking: "What the heck?"
Here's why
As you start a school, you learn the absolute crazy amount of stuff schools have to buy
And so instead of buying everything from others, we're letting students run & operate some of those businesses including:
* photo day
* yearbook
* our merch store
But to get on the 3-4 person teams that run these businesses, students have to create a resume, apply and interview
Resume examples below
They're excited (and nervous) for the process and the prospect of running a complete business with Forge as the 1st customer
If they run it well, they also share in the profits
Forge students will not be part of this troubling national statistic...
This is why we focus on building their reading muscle and stamina by allowing them to read things that give them joy and which they choose
Once we observe that, we can find other adjacent genres or types of books to expand the types of subjects & genres they read
But it starts with actually enjoying reading
This stat is a national tragedy
Woodchips, a marker, a drill and some fishing line and we have stuffed animal name tags
Another fun side quest the Guides follow student interest on and pursue
Next time, Y is going to use the drill!!
The Connector work has begun
With this, the current building will be connected to the Gym and seminar rooms on the other side of the campus
Very happy to see this work kickoff (esp in advance of the winter)
Students learning about the smothered checkmate in chess class
The rate of advancement among students and overall increased interest in chess has been phenomenal




















