Alzar School’s Got Talent

This week is a week worthy of celebration. Not only are students embarking on their first expedition, but they are doing so with the pride and excitement of reaching stage two of the Community Development Phases here at the Alzar School. The phases of community development exist to promote student responsibility and ownership over their lives. Throughout their first weeks on campus students have been working hard to meet the expectations required of them to move into the second phase. And, as of Tuesday, they have successfully done so!

In order to move into the second phase of community development, students had to meet many criteria. The most exciting of which was achieving something notable for the group that was student-driven. Students met this criterion by facilitating a talent show on Saturday night. The talent show was completely student-driven — Ella led the charge, while small student groups organized costumes, snacks, decorations, and the show. A variety of talents were showcased; students sang, beatboxed, juggled, read poetry, and did magic tricks. While there were many highlights, including the costumes, some of the major takeaways were not talent at all, but the community that is being built. In front of the entire Alzar School community on Monday Hannah stated that she was proud of the talent show because everyone was willing to put themselves out there, being goofy and weird. But more importantly, she explained that she had no fear she would be criticized by her peers. She went on to say how she would have never felt that way in her sending school and how proud she was of herself and her peers for having created a community so differently supportive from their respective schools back home.

It is moments like these where the value of the Alzar School’s small community shine. Student’s not only produced an engaging and well-organized show; peers were supported, tears of laughter were cried, and leaders emerged.