Building Community

In the "hot seat"

“One can acquire everything in solitude except character.”
― Stendhal, Five Short Novels of Stendhal: The Duchess of Palliano, Vittoria Accoramboni, The Abbess of Castro, Vanina Vanini and The Cenci

This quote says it all. Why do we focus on building a strong community? Because it is within the activities of meeting in various groupings, greeting one another each morning, problem solving in collaboratives, and playing games together, that we build character, build our place within the larger community, and build relationships.

Every morning Thunder and Lightning students greet their teachers as they walk in the door. They also greet one another by making eye contact and by voicing their community member's name. We do greetings in different ways each day and students hear their names spoken by the whole community. There is a sense that you are known and seen.

Each day during closing and cohort meetings students play games like "Me Too." In this game students circle up, and one by one each student steps into the circle and expresses something they like or dislike. Other students in the group step in when they agree and say, "me too." Again creating a communal sense of there are people who like what I like. 

Also there is a time of acknowledgement--stating the positive things about a person, or the great things we did that day. Grievances are also expressed so they can be "aired out" so to speak and addressed by the community. One recent acknowledgement activity is "Hot Seat." A student sits in a seat with a chart paper behind them. Other students in the cohort write one word or phrase of encouragement on the chart paper to the person in the "hot seat." These words and phrases are read to the student afterward.

Starting next month, students will be assigned an "accountability partner" to help and mentor in the word and goal they've chosen for the year, to hear needs and prayer requests and to spur each other on in doing good as it says in Hebrews 10:24-25, "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another...."

Also, community building is a part of the 21st century skills needed to be a successful human in the world today. The Partnership for 21st Century Learning, a framework that was created with input from teachers, education experts and business leaders to define and illustrate the skills and knowledge students need to succeed in work, life and citizenship, as well as the support systems necessary for 21st century learning outcomes. The framework is shown in this graphic:

Business leaders are looking for employees that can communicate, collaborate and build community. And as Kat Jonker said about community building:

"Working in a community requires TREMENDOUS patience and humility, and I think practicing those things is what really develops (Christ-like) character. I also think we learn best from a posture of humility because we are more receptive and ready to listen."