This year, Laura’s science classes at One Spark Academy are focusing on innovation! We started the year with a study of biomimicry…a relatively “new” science where designers, scientists, and engineers use nature’s models to solve human problems. (We even made the news!) In Session 2, students were asked to come up with an invention, and […]
This article was published April 19, 2013, on Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution (US) website. Article is no longer be available. When you hear the words “middle school” and “lunch” in the same sentence, you might think of a teenager with a can of Coke in one hand, and a bag of chips in another. What […]
When I first saw this picture (original source unknown), it was one of those “Aha” moments. Todd and I had been tossing around similar PR ideas, hoping to encapsulate our mission and the feeling people seem to have when they join One Spark. But, here, the word “SLOW!” really resonated with me, combined with a […]
[image_frame style=”framed_shadow” align=”left”]https://www.onesparkacademy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/IMG_0486-e1365024239990.jpg[/image_frame]On March 27, at 9:15 in the morning, my sweet father, Jan Peters, passed away. The end of his life was expected, as he had been dealing with health problems for several years and recently had elected to receive hospice care, rather than end up in the hospital again. However, as much as […]
This blog post is by guest blogger Tom Stough, college librarian. Thanks Tom! Gentle OSA reader, One might ask, why read a book by the founder of […]
In July, 2011, my husband Todd and I founded One Spark Academy. Within a week or so after choosing its name, we had a business license, website, teachers, a location, and seven students. Compared to other educational endeavors of which I’d been part, the founding of One Spark Academy was a cakewalk. Thankfully, that was the plan: […]
“An education filled with rigor but absent inspiration is meaningless, even damaging. But, an inspired education without rigor can be exceptional. That’s because when we’re inspired, learning doesn’t feel rigorous.” I came up with the above quote while shopping recently in a local Trader Joe’s. Apparently, it was soon after pick-up time from school, because […]
Did you ever buy a lottery ticket and wonder what you’d do with the winnings? I haven’t often played, but I’ve had quite a few conversations with people about whether or not we’d return to our jobs if we won. Mostly, the answer was a fairly resounding, “No way!” For most, the idea of a […]
It’s always been important for me to teach children the importance of real relationships. If students feel a deep connection to their instructor and their peers, they will better remember what was taught, enjoy the process, and most likely be inspired to learn more. It’s within safe, real relationships that we grow and thrive. And, […]
It’s that time of the year again when everyone who is involved in a public school is enduring some added stress. Yes, it’s testing time. For at least a month in most schools, many exciting activities and lessons are dropped in place of test prep, and normal schedules are in upheaval. Students have been warned […]