Classroom Happenings: Collaboration Takes Flight

Meteors, stomp rockets, and enthusiastic sixth graders … all the ingredients for an unforgettable lesson on collaboration! This semester, students in Middle School Social Studies Teacher Craig Redmond-Cilley’s classes learned about the importance of working together during their unit on government … and they had a blast doing so. 

The unit began several weeks ago with students practicing collaborative decision-making and student-led problem-solving as they learned about different forms of government. To test these newly developed skills, each of Mr. Redmond-Cilley’s four classes formed their own country (each selecting a form of government learned in the unit), with the goal of competing across four categories: economic production, diplomatic propaganda, scientific research, and military strength. While they competed with one another, they were united in the common goal of destroying a meteor headed toward Steward.

The Red Angry Birds operated as a direct democracy in which each student could debate and vote on every decision, slowing down their process but ensuring more buy-in from the group. The Purple Dragons selected a representative democracy in which they elected four leaders. “Their decisions were more efficient than the direct democracy,” noted Mr. Redmond-Cilley, “but frustrations arose when representatives made decisions their group did not favor.” 

Meanwhile, the Gray Hedgehogs chose to be an oligarchy, controlled exclusively by the whims of three oligarchs who were selected via a digital game. Finally, the Green GOATs chose to be a constitutional monarchy; their randomly selected monarch and elected representatives split up decision-making responsibilities.

On March 4, the students could barely contain their excitement as they prepared to attempt to destroy the meteor. Wearing homemade uniforms, and holding colorful handmade flags, they presented their propaganda videos inside the Middle School Dining Commons to a panel of judges, including several Middle and Upper School faculty. Then they headed outside to the field to encounter the giant meteor, which was sitting in a wheelbarrow. 

“A stomp rocket is powered by the release of compressed air,” explained Mr. Redmond-Cilley. “Students constructed the rocket launchers out of PVC pipe and recycled two-liter bottles and the rockets from manila folders. Building and launching the rockets provided hands-on lessons in the basics of rocketry, such as gauging the center of gravity.” Amid lots of cheers, students launched their stomp rockets, aiming them toward the meteor, which eighth-grade student volunteers had fashioned from hula hoops and papier-mâché in their art class. 

Mary-Kate Hrabak ’31, a member of the Green GOATs team, said, “A hands-on project like this one gives students opportunities to learn, play, and have fun. I think you learn better when you do something you are passionate about.”

Mr. Redmond-Cilley noted that, along with learning how to function as a government, there were two overarching objectives in this project: collaboration and competition. 

“All four classes had the collaborative goal of saving Steward from the meteor menace,” he said. “It took all of them working together to get enough hits to officially ‘destroy’ the meteor. After the first two classes got slightly less than half the hits needed, it seemed like disaster might befall us. However, the last two classes pulled through and got enough hits between them to destroy the meteor!”

Each class could also earn individual glory by out-competing the other classes across categories like number of rockets produced, creative rocket design, number of hits on the meteor, and propaganda materials.

“After collecting the results, we had our first-ever tie with the Green GOATs and the Gray Hedgehogs each scoring a 70.5 out of 80 possible points,” said Mr. Redmond-Cilley. “Their leaders came together and decided on a tiebreaker by seeing which class could launch a rocket the farthest.” In this dramatic finale, the Green GOATs emerged victorious, earning a plaque that will hang in the Middle School alongside those of victors from previous years.

This one-of-a-kind project incorporated all aspects of Steward’s core values (innovation, inspiration, care & respect, individuality, academic achievement, and civil discourse). “Plus,” added Mr. Redmond-Cilley, “it was a lot of fun!”