Academics to Enrichment Day: Weeks in Review
- Katy Lamandia
- Nov 19
- 8 min read
Updated: Nov 26
Introduction
I want to start by thanking you all for your patience while I tried to sort out the issues with our CRM and the chaos it caused with our most recent Weekly Newsletter. After those mortifying “notes” went out instead of the actual newsletter (which I like to think was pretty polished 😅), I’ve decided to use that system only for brief, straightforward, announcement emails from here on out. Clearly I pushed it to the limits with my fancy Newsletter.
A parent suggested shifting to a blog, and here we are! Honestly, this already feels like a much better option for so many reasons! (Thanks Ryan!)
My long-term goal is for our learners to help create the newsletter themselves. (Brilliant idea from another parent! Thanks Pam!) You all really are the best! We started rolling out "scribe" and documentation jobs last week and will keep expanding this, giving learners a voice in how we share updates from campus. I can’t wait to see how this blog grows and becomes a living record of all the amazing things our kids do and experience at Apogee Odessa!
As we find our rhythm, thank you in advance for your grace. It may take us a little bit to get into a flow, and newsletters might be published at random times rather than on a strict schedule. However, when we DO post a new Newsletter, you will be notified via email.
As always, thank you for being on this journey with us!❤️
Important Announcements
Full-Time Families:
As you know, Apogee Man & Apogee Woman are available to you FREE as full-time families! The next group launches in January, and we want to encourage as many of you as possible to join. This program is an incredible value and is a big part of why we are able to offer “education for the whole family.”
It’s important to note that this may be the last year Apogee Strong provides this program at no cost to our families, so we want to show strong interest and appreciation. When you sign up, you receive 12 months of mentorship, personal growth, community, and endless resources for your entire family.
This is an amazing opportunity to model for your learners that you’re growing right alongside them and all reaching for more together. I joined the program at the beginning of my Apogee journey, but launching the campus and working full time made it hard to complete. I’m planning to jump back in and start fresh in January, and I’d love to have anyone join me who’s willing to take the leap!
This program is open to both parents, and I truly hope many of you will take advantage of it.
If you are going to take advantage of this program, please email or text me to let me know and also visit this link to sign up:
Women:https://apogeewoman.com/
Additionally, our full-time learners who are 12 and up are eligible to join Apogee Young Man and Apogee Young Woman. This is a tremendous added value to our program and is truly transformational for developing confidence, leadership, communication, and responsibility. The skills taught in this program make a noticeable impact on so many areas of life, especially future professional relationships, public speaking, and overall character.
If you want to sign your learner up, please use the links below. Once you’ve enrolled, just let me know so I can support you and your learner in any way needed.
Young Women:https://apogeeyoungwoman.com/
Young Men:https://strong.apogeestrong.com/
Exploring Academics
Over the last several weeks, we have really hit our groove with implementation of the Learner Driven model. Our learners are finally grasping what this looks like, developing the habits around goal setting, tracking, following through and failing forward. If you've ever failed at something, you know how much more growth happens from missing the mark than when you succeed every time. Right now, we are allowing this process to play out and these experiences to generate motivation. This is all being cultivated in an environment of non-judgment, especially while this is still a relatively new concept to them.
If you are wondering, "When is my goal meeting?!" I hear you, and I ask that you hear us out. Since this is everyone's first year in this concept, they are all learning at the same time to motivate and pursue their goals independently. In future years, returning learners naturally pull new learners along, and the whole system flows smoothly. This group is entirely new to this and it has taken a decent amount of time for guides to transfer that power to the learner. We had to lead entirely in the beginning and work through fear of failure and essentially "deprogram" our learners. Now that they have hit their stride, we are ready to start holding goal meetings and are actively creating systems that will make goal meeting/monitoring easier for families! Stay Tuned... 😉
Passion Projects
Have you heard about the "Community in the Woods?"
One of the most powerful examples of our learner-driven model came from what started as a simple “brain break.” After a project that lost momentum and interest, our learners went outside to reset and what happened next revealed everything that makes Apogee Odessa so special.
Without any adult direction, the children began building together in the woods. They simply started building shelters. Throughout this process a few learners took charge and naturally stepped in to a leadership position. Eventually (and understandably) this led to conflict between peers. Rather than stepping in with rules or lectures, guides used this moment to practice real conflict resolution. Learners voiced concerns, weighed whether problems needed solving independently or as a group, and developed communication skills.
From there, the project exploded into a fully self-created “community in the woods.” Learners campaigned for leadership roles, designed campaign materials, held elections, debated term limits, and formed a governing council. They created currency, collected taxes, assigned jobs, and paid wages. Last week, one of our learners suggested having a bank and offering mortgages! (I spy an opportunity for financial literacy!) The craziest part is, these were all ideas generated by the learners themselves. This is the beauty of a mixed age group! Older learners naturally teach younger learners in an environment like this. Some of our younger learners had a real issue with taxes 😂 and I can't say I blame them.
These conversations naturally brought up deeper questions:Why do we pay taxes? Is our leadership fair? What happens when people feel unrepresented? What does history teach us about that? These made for amazing socratic discussions!
All the while, the children were building shelters, navigating the terrain, solving physical problems, and blending history, economics, and teamwork. The best part- they don't even realize they're learning so much!
When frustrations with their elected leaders grew, we quietly expanded the territory and offered a small group the chance to explore a “new land.” Much like the Pilgrims, the learners that discovered the new land, could tell others about it and what it had to offer, but those that hadn't seen it, could not visit, they had to base their decisions off of what they heard. Suddenly they were debating risk-taking, migration, freedom vs. familiarity, and whether to form a new government. Some chose to stay, some wanted to leave. From that, discussions about immigration (what if they wanted to stay for now but change their minds later) , visas, trading resources, and tariffs emerged naturally.
All of this came from letting learners lead.
This project has been one of the clearest examples that real education happens when children have ownership, freedom, and community. As guides, we simply kept the environment safe, asked questions and kept the conversation going. The learners did the rest. Their creativity, critical thinking, and maturity humbled us and affirmed that learning should be lived, not delivered.
Exercise and Physical Activity
These last weeks we have had groups create 30 minute work outs for us! Each day we have a group direct (and participate in) the work out! This has helped them get excited about working out and we LOVE that!
Devotional
Here are several of our latest stories that we have heard and discussed:
Ruth
Ruth stayed loyal to Naomi and chose to follow God even when life was hard. God honored her faithfulness and made her part of Jesus’s family line.
Samuel
Samuel grew up listening to God and became a faithful prophet. God used him to anoint Israel’s kings, beginning with Saul and later David.
King Saul
Saul started strong but let pride and disobedience take over. His choices led to his downfall and God removing him as king.
David and Goliath
David trusted God completely and defeated the giant Goliath with a sling and stone. His courage showed that God can use anyone who has faith.
David and Bathsheba
David made a serious mistake and tried to hide it, but God confronted him. David repented, and God forgave him, showing both justice and mercy.
King Solomon
Solomon asked God for wisdom and became a great leader, even building the temple. But later he drifted from God, reminding us to stay faithful.
Rehoboam
Rehoboam ignored wise counsel and chose harsh leadership, causing the kingdom to split. His story shows why humility and good advice matter.
Here is the link to these beautiful and kid appropriate videos:
Additionally, The Biggest Story just released the most beautiful kids Bible! I purchased several for our campus. If you are in the market for an incredible kids study bible, I am sharing the link below. I have no affiliation, just want to share while these are on super sale!
Socratic Discussions
We have had countless discussions over the last few weeks about everything from Taxes to bible stories to Etiquitte! These conversations continue to impress us daily! We love hearing their perspectives.
Continuing the Conversation at Home
Ask about our devotional time! What did they learn about?
Ask if they had any conflict resolution? How did that go?
Ask if they got a character call-out. Who did and why?
Enrichment Day Highlights
Friendsgiving 11/7- What an amazing day! We loved spending time with you all!
Survival Skills 11/14- CSM Rick Lamb- Map reading and situational awareness.
Jujitsu 11/21- Another amazing day of building grit, humility, confidence, and growth through failure. We are so proud of our learners that get on the mat and push through discomfort! We see your growth and we are proud of you!!
Character Call-Outs
Thank you Elena for being our Scribe and documenting some of our recent Character Call-Outs! While we can't write out ALL of these, here are a few from recent days:
Adelise- Recognized for showing compassion and another peer recognized her for being loyal and helpful.
Elias- Recognized for being loyal and helpful
Elena- Recognized for working through conflict with compassion and patience
Max B- Recognized for helping
Rylan- Recognized for being brave and apologizing
Asher- Recognized for helping in the woods
Sophia- Recognized for working through conflict with compassion and patience
Important Upcoming Dates
December 2nd- Return from Thanksgiving Break
December 5th- Enrichment Day - Christmas Fun Day (Baking Cookies, Christmas Crafts, etc.)
December 19th-January 5th- Christmas Break
January 1st- Apogee Man & Women- Launch (more to come- keep eye on emails)
January 6th- Return from Christmas Break
January 12th-16th- Jackie Hill on Campus (more to come on this- keep eye on emails)
January 15th- Parent Q&A with Jackie Hill (for existing and new families)
January 19th-Closed
How Parents Can Support Us
We are still in search of a permanent location! If you know anyone or see anything available (with land/woods)- please send it our way! Otherwise, we would LOVE your prayers as we wait for God to work.
Do you have a skill that you can teach? We would love to hear from you! Having parents come in and share a skill is so important to us.
Your referrals mean the world to us! Thank you all for spreading the word about Apogee Odessa. There is no greater compliment than that!
We would LOVE your testimonial! If you have a moment, please text or email me any feedback/testimonials you would be comfortable sharing! I would love to highlight these in the future.
In Closing
If you’ve made it this far, WOW! Thank you for taking the time to read through all of this! I could write forever about the amazing things we see every day on campus. It is such a blessing to watch this dream come to life and to see the lives that are changed by this educational model.
I honor you, I appreciate you, and I’m so pumped to be on this journey with all of you.
With gratitude,
Katy & the Apogee Odessa Team
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