CIRQUE KALABANTÉ   When the large drums started beating, four in total, I could feel the sound in my chest. I instantly looked to see how the kids from ROCS were responding. One, two…five, six…I counted ten (there were probably more) steady with their headphones on, while others who didn’t have them (or forgot to … Continue reading Cirque Kalabanté

  OCTOBER 14, 2024 by Celeste Irving , ROCS mom (original blog link) From biking, to fishing, to Adena mounds, and an over-sized eagle’s nest, Highbanks Metro Park has so much to discover. Recently, the ROCS students and staff spent a beautiful fall day there exploring the play areas at the Big Meadow Picnic Area, … Continue reading The Cutest Catfish

What is an artist? Though not an objective answer, I believe an artist is someone who expresses a unique part of themselves. It could be done in many forms – from how they bake a cake, to how a soccer ball is kicked, to how an idea is painted on a canvas. Anyone who puts … Continue reading A Show of Artists

How we move within in a space, how we move within our environment is not entirely our decision. It coincides with how the space was designed, how it exists either as an aid or a barrier to our movements. Often, too often, the world around us impedes a person’s ability to move as they need … Continue reading Access is Love

Chaperoning at Glacier Ridge   The big yellow school bus pulled up to the 1,032 acre park – once covered in farmland, and before that, debris left by retreating glaciers.  ROCS had arrived at Glacier Ridge Metro Park.  “What did your student think of the bus?” I asked Jay, a new ROCS parent this year … Continue reading Chaperoning at Glacier Ridge

Part One: The Choice to Sing  It seemed so simple, what they did over at The Harmony Project. They got together in a big room and sang a few songs. But there was magic there – beautiful, strong magic, that those like Ms.Peggy  (Director Of Communications and lead for the Community Arts Program) knows just … Continue reading The Choice To Sing…

A Gratitude List The following is a gratitude list. Twenty-five reasons I am grateful for Red Oak Community School. This idea came from: 1) a personal goal to make my first thought of the day a grateful one 2) a twenty-one-day family gratitude challenge, recently completed and 3) Theresa, (assistant school manager) who during a … Continue reading A Gratitude List

The Great Book Sort of 2023 The minute Maureen, a ROCS educator, pulled me into her room and I saw the books organized in stacks on the table, I knew there was something big happening in her class. A large investigation, with momentous implications, and a reckoning that would shake the up bookshelves. The infographic … Continue reading The Great Book Sort

BUTTONS OF INSPIRATION STUDYING AMINAH ROBINSON “Can you tell me about your drawing?” I asked each student in the Chickadee class. They were sifting through bowls of buttons trying to decide which ones would be best to line their pictures. Bottles of glue, and bowls with glue brushes, sat between the pairs of students, who … Continue reading Studying Aminah Robinson

CHAIRS COME IN ALL SHAPES AND SIZES     There was an issue to be solved and a solution to present even before word of the problem hit Cheryl’s ears. The Owls, the eldest students at ROCS, did not like sitting on the wooden stools during class time. They all preferred the more comfortable wooden … Continue reading Learning Democracy