My name is Angelina Rogers and I am 10 years old. I LOVE going to school at Indi-ED. I mostly love how it is SO different from traditional schools. The way we are learning is definitely better for me. Also, Everyone is SO nice and I’m making so many new friends. One of my favorite parts about Indi-ED is what we call “Inquiry.”
For those of you who don’t know what inquiry is, it is where we get to choose what we want to learn about. For example I chose gymnastics and not only do I get to learn more about what I’m passionate about, it helps me reach personal goals.
I have set a goal for myself to get my back walkover in gymnastics.
And that is not all. Every month we have a showcase evening and we all get to express ourselves and do a presentation related to our goal. Also we have an option to change what we want to learn about every month.
Inquiry isn’t my only favorite part, I also enjoy… the teachers. The way the school is set up, the way we organize our work, and the way we get to grade ourselves.
Now I want to talk a little about what I mean when I say we get to grade ourselves. So what we do is we can either grade ourselves to a 0, 5, 8, or a 10 and what do those mean? A 0 means we didn’t understand, we were off track, or not paying attention. A 5 mean we understood the subject a little or went off track, an 8 means we understood or got off track then managed to get back on track, and last but certainly not least, a 10 means we understood, didn’t get off track and paid attention.
Now those are a few things that I love about Indi-ED. Now let’s look at some photos showing the cool stuff we do at Indi-ED. I hope you enjoy them…
(Reese & I are inquiry partners)
Ok so in this picture I am doing what is called a “stag “ a.k.a bent leg handstand. For inquiry Reese is doing photography and I’m doing gymnastics. For this one we had both agreed that in our presentation we could have some pictures of me doing gymnastics and some pictures that he enjoys that he has taken at other times.
Now, this photo took quite a few tries but I’ve got to say, Reese is pretty good at photography. I feel like Mrs. Laurenzi gave us the option to partner up to see how our themes go together and also to see who we work well with. Plus to learn how to stay on track while working with other people.
(In science we learned how plants absorb water)
In science we did the celery experiment and how this worked was we partnered up and put one stalk of celery in a cup of water with food coloring and we left it at school overnight so the next day we could observe what happened.
Now different thing happened for different people, for example Mrs. Laurenzi’s water was red and the stalk of celery turned red. Now, my partner was Reese and we did two colors in our water and those were red and blue, so it turned purple instead of the whole stalk turning purple only the leaves changed.
Also, there was originally a crack in the celery so not only did the water absorb from the bottom but it also went up through the crack.
Sometimes kids come to “shadow” our class so they can learn how we do things differently at Indi-ED
(This is one of our guests solving a Sudoku.)
This is Sophia. Her and her friend, Amelia, shadowed with us at indi-ED. They were both so nice! In this picture Sophia became the new master at sudoku. She was the only one who completed the highest level we had. We enjoyed having them spend the day with us.
The Big Family Meal
Once a month at Indi-ED we have a family meal. The first month all the students prepared the meal. This time my family hosted and we made lasagna, salad, Italian cookies and Italian soda for 51 people!
(That’s me delivering lasagna)
This family meal was challenging to prepare, but it was fun because the theme we chose was Italian. This gave us an advantage because my mom’s side of the family is Italian, so we cook food like this all the time at home. My mom is a great cook!
All the other families were being so supportive with helping us pass out the food.
(My mom and grandparents serving up the lasagna)
This is where it all went down. This is where all the food was being prepared… where the italian soda was coming together… Ms. Heller’s classroom ( Dun Dun Dunnnnnn).
Also in the Rogers’ version of family meals the grandparents come in for back-up. Honestly, we were so happy that our grandparents were helping us they are both awesome people and awesome cooks so we were so thankful they were helping.
(And this is my dad pouring Italian soda, and being a hoot)
And of course the dad has to get in on it too! In the magical backstage area my dad’s main job was to make the Italian soda and prepare the water. My dad did a great job on the making of Italian soda. And he also is a nut. He is funny, creative, crazy, and fun to be around.
(Ben and I gave the toast)
Also before the feast begin Ben and I got to give a little toast!
In the toast we described the food we made, how we prepared, and why we choose to make Italian food. At the end of the toast, I said: “We hope you enjoy and in the words of the Italian; ‘Manja’.”
(Dig in, everybody. Manja!)
Now we could really start digging in. “Manja!”is the italian word for enjoy or eat! This family meal was definitely another Indi-ED success!
(My “Grampy” teaching everyone how to play Bocce Ball)
Let me introduce you to a little game the Italians like to call “ Bocce Ball”. It’s a traditional Italian game where you roll the bigger Bocce balls to see who can get closest to the little ball (called the “Jack”). It’s simple to learn and really fun to play. Our family usually plays Bocce Ball together on Thanksgiving Day.
(The after effect)
As a thank you gift we had gave my mom ( and grandma ) flowers with notes that said what the family meal meant to us and to thank them for preparing the whole thing. I also love this picture because even though my mom is crying ( happy tears!) we are showing her we care and that we are thankful for all the work she did preparing to feed 51 people.
Now, one more thing… I want to give a HUGE thank you to Mrs. Laurenzi and Ms. Heller for making this school a dream come true. I know we all appreciate all the hard work you both do and together you make this school one of the best opportunity we could ever experience!
~Angelina Rogers