Bounce Back: Future Ready Learning Week Builds Life Skills

Failure, says Lake Center Christian School teacher Derek Ciapala, is an important part of learning. It’s one of the main lessons taught in the school’s Future Ready Learning Week — a course for multiple grade levels that introduces students to key life skills.

“In this case, the opportunity we’re trying to provide them is to develop their critical thinking skills in an environment where, Hey, it’s OK to fail,” Ciapala says. “Let’s take a look back at our creative process, our design process, and see how we can change that failure into something that’s successful for them.”

Once a year, Future Ready Learning Week is taught to fourth, fifth and sixth graders. Students have the opportunity to learn skills in weeklong seminars with different teachers.

“This gives them a chance … to build some resilience and persistence,” says elementary assistant principal David Wright.

Fourth graders are tasked with building a chair out of cardboard that can withstand the weight of a seated adult. Fifth and sixth graders, meanwhile, get a choice of different seminars. They might choose from subjects such as sewing, 3D printing, video game design or bridge building.

“We focus in on that subject to help build some mastery,” Ciapala explains.

Ciapala teaches 3D printing. He gathers information from teachers and employees about problems they are having in their classrooms or spaces, then compiles and presents the information to students — who are then tasked with designing solutions for those problems. In the past, students have designed, printed and tested out items such as spinners for games used by lower grade teachers and specially designed magnetic hooks for whiteboards.

“What most people do in life — a large portion of that learning comes from making a mistake and fixing that mistake and working their way out of a problem,” Ciapala says. “These are the critical thinking skills that we’re trying to build.”

Sixth grade student Harper Hutchings took the Future Ready Learning course in fifth grade. He was in the interior design class and was tasked with designing the inside of a room in miniature. It was fun, he says, to use his creative abilities — and important to learn how to bounce back from failure.

“You’re gonna fail in life. Everybody fails,” Hutchings says. “So, you gotta learn how to fail, accept it, and make it good. Make it better.”