Matching Student Interest with Teacher Talent: Passion Projects

Matching Student Interest with Teacher Talent: Passion Projects
- Ms. Danielle Fields, Executive Director

"Creativity is intelligence having fun." -- Albert Einstein  

Learning should be fun! It is part of our core commitment “fostering a genuine love of learning from the first day of school” and our approach “we choose to make an impact through joyful, positive, and inspirational interaction”, “we believe that learning is more than academic, and focus on the creativity within the whole child” to education. Passion Projects are an original idea created by MELA for creative expression and inquiry that students may not otherwise have an opportunity to explore.

Who doesn’t remember saying as a student “When will I ever need to know this?” Passion Projects apply literacy and math skills to activities children can take with them for the rest of their lives. Many of our Passion Projects are offered because a teacher has an outside passion that they want to share with the student body. Students then get to select from a variety of unique learning opportunities that peak their individual interests. 

This year at MELA, all students have the opportunity to engage in the following Passion Projects: Outside Adventures, Robotics/Makerspace, Dance, Spanish, Art Class, Gardening, Cooking Class, Science with the University of Minnesota, Computer Programming with Amazon, Chess, and Dog Training (Therapy Dogs with Canine Inspired Change). Whereas Wednesdays can feel like the looongest day of the week for most schools, it is the day of the week that our students look forward to the most! 

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Here is what students have to say about Passion Projects: 

• “I was able to be an engineer and I was able to create and imagine.” 
• “It was fun to garden and plant a seed and take care of something other than myself.”
• “I love that my teacher knows how to dance and teaches me. I get to learn with other students I usually don’t get to work with!”
• “I enjoy cooking class; I learned a recipe that I was able to take home and make for my family.”
• “I enjoy learning about robotics because I want to be an engineer one day.”
• “Chess has taught me about strategy.” “Chess makes me use and stretch my brain in ways I haven’t done before.” “It is challenging and that is fun!”
• “I like to create and Science allows me to do that.”
• “I enjoy learning how to code with Amazon. Every day is something new!”

Maya Angelou said it best, “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use the more you have.” Passion Projects make learning come to life in joyous ways. Our school takes pride in fostering future problem solvers, inventors, and world-changers.

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