A Day in the Life of an Upper School Scholar

Hi, I'm Katie, a 6th grader at the School of Logic at Innovate Academy!  I’d love to share with you a snapshot of my year so far.

First off, you have to know that I love to act! This year for our Winter Showcase, I wrote and performed a monologue as Theodora, Justinian's wife who was the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire. I also love to sing, so in band we studied a few Christmas carols and worship songs, which we got to perform at the concert too. I mean, I love studying composers and music theory at school, but c'mon, actually rockin' the stage is  awesome!

Funny thing to admit, but I like to argue a lot too, which is great because at the School of Logic I get to debate for a living! This year, my class had to wrestle with questions in our Apologetics course like... “Is it narrow-minded to believe there is only one way to heaven?” or “What about all the hypocrites in the church?” My dad isn't enjoying it when I use these skills at home though to get out of chores! Guess I have to find a work/life balance.

That’s why I like Science so much. It’s the perfect balance of my left and right brain’s strengths. This year, I explored Earth Science and learned about how lava flows create gems, which should be really cheap but there’s a high dollar value on them because they’re so pretty! But the Earth is not just a bunch of scientific facts. It’s poetic too. The way water makes me feel refreshed or the way I feel cheered by a bird’s call is fascinating. I’m truly in awe at the diverse, organized, and poetic planet we call home. There's just so much in our world to explore, and I want to understand it and my place in it, ya know?

Intellegisne? That’s Latin for “Do you understand?” I know you do, but I wanted to show off some of the mad language skills I’ve acquired at IA. I love studying Latin and coding at school. I mean, Latin is the language of the past and coding is the language of the future so in learning both, I think I got this smart thing covered, right?

Ok, back to reality. Breathe in, breathe out. Sometimes all this work (rigorous studying and extracurricular activities) can leave me stressed. Which is why I love our Wellness course at IA. This year, I baked a lot, but I used healthy alternatives like oat flour, almond milk, and protein powder. For my personal exercise, I do things I love like swimming, dancing, and yoga. I also learned about creating daily rhythms so now I can plan everything out in advance and fit in time with friends, work, and what fills me so I don't get drained and feel centered. 

Speaking of feeling centered — I’m so glad History is not complicated or fragmented or stressful at IA but SIMPLE. I love studying ONE time period of History in all our courses. It helps me think better and go deeper in each subject and connect the dots! Like in Literature, I loved reading the tales of King Arthur, which got me thinking about Joan of Arc from our History lesson. She was a peasant girl who heard from God, became a knight, and freed her country! Wow. Talk about being a forerunner of women's rights! I thought of this during our meditation time one morning where we connect with God and read His word and pray. It’s amazing how studying classically opens up my spiritual eyes and heart more and helps me connect with Jesus.

Speaking of connecting with Jesus — do you know that John Bunyan wrote the 1678 Christian allegory Pilgrim’s Progress while in prison?! In my Communication Arts and Storytelling class, I learned that it’s regarded as one of the most significant works of religious, theological fiction in English literature, has been translated into more than 200 languages, and has never been out of print. It has also been cited as the first novel written in English! The entire school was able to collaborate on set design and script memorization on a walking theater production of Pilgrim's Progress to celebrate such a work of spiritual genius, which meant more acting for me. Gotta love it!

Speaking of acting again — do you know I’m a film star now? Well, my brain is at least! Innovate Academy posted a video of me on social media of my Grammar memory song! I mean, I have a way with prepositional phrases, don't ya think? It helps to memorize important stuff at school like historical timelines or grammar rules so I don't forget them later. I mean, having a Justin Beiber song in your head really doesn't get you anywhere even though it's great.

Well maybe it does get you somewhere. I mean, he does have a mansion. Which reminds me — even my Art course tied in to what I was learning in History this year. I learned all about the Middle Ages Art Periods/Movements like Byzantine, Islamic, Middle Ages, Early and High Renaissance, Mannerism, and Baroque but then got to re-create a lot of what we learned about, such as castles — kinda like a modern day mansion — in Art class. My favorites were painting a Medieval Castle with water colors and creating my own stained glass art piece.  

Finally, I like working with my hands. I mean, I really don't get something unless I'm doing or experience it, ya know? Which is why I'm really enjoying Math at IA. We use manipulatives and solve real math problems in class through experiments. Math makes so much sense to me now. It's really as easy as pi! Hehee.

It’s good to know that all this learning doesn’t just occur IN school, which is why I love our field trips! This year, all of our field trips tied into the time period or topics we were studying. For example, when we studied caves and rocks in Earth Science, we toured the inside of Crystal Cave and viewed the planetarium at SpitzMedia. Also, when we studied China in the 600s, we went to Chinatown in Philadelphia to learn about the Tang Dynasty and the effort that went into creating the flourishing Chinatown we know today. My favorite though was touring the Philadelphia Art Museum. I learned about the architecture, sculpture, textiles, and armor of Medieval Europe (and got to check out what my heroine, Joan of Arc, may have worn!). The Glencairn Museum, a beautiful castle and cathedral, built as a replica of a Middle Ages castle, was also pretty cool. I got to sculpt a piece of limestone (used to build castles) myself (glad that’s not going to be my future trade!).

Well that’s a wrap folks. I hope you enjoyed learning about my amazing year, so much that you share this post with your friends. I want everyone to enjoy school the way I do!