Project Week at ISAK is a time to step away from the classroom for experiential learning, service projects and personal growth.
On March 20, the G-10 class kicked off Spring Project Week 2017 and first on the agenda was “Unlock Karuizawa”, a group of student-designed projects for ISAK and the surrounding community. The entire grade 10 class has been working on Unlock Karuizawa since the beginning of the school year and, while it hasn’t been a totally smooth path for most groups, the ups and downs have been part of the process of learning to work in a diverse team.
On Monday, student groups sharing updates about their team journeys, and then spent the next two days trying to move their projects forward. Activities included working on a crowdfunding campaign for alternative childcare, completing knitting projects, planning an event for the neighboring community, exploring Karuizawa on bikes, planting seeds, and prototyping a student run café.
Midweek, students stopped to reflect on the experience of working together. In one appreciation activity, students had a paper taped to their backs so everyone could write down each person’s strengths. This was a powerful affirmation that the G-10s are developing respect and appreciation for each other, in spite of many different personalities and perspectives.
Thursday and Friday were spent a little differently, with students working alone or in small groups on projects that fueled their personal passions and sense of purpose. (In Design Innovation and Mindful Self-Discipline classes this year, students have been exploring their passions in preparation for the second half of project week.) The experiences ranged from volunteering with elders, exploring Tokyo art, working for animal protection, and long cycling rides.
On Friday, everyone presented their personal explorations to the rest of the grade and had some time for personal purpose reflection. Thank you to all the students who submitted photos of their project week adventures!
*Project Week is made possible in part by generous support from Mizuho Financial Corp., Inc.
