Risk, Reward, and Student Ambition

GRACE Christian School has put on many amazing plays over the years.  Some were funny; some were dramatic.  Some told historically accurate stories; some were pure fantasy.  During the hybrid year, we had a radio play requiring almost no set; we have also recreated Narnia and the Secret Garden.  This weekend, I saw what may be our most ambitious effort yet.  A cast and crew of nearly 50 staged Disney's High School Musical.  

This play was a risk for everyone.  Our music program is growing, but it is still relatively small.  Some of the kids on that stage had never acted before but had sung with a choir.  Some had acted, but only in straight plays with no music.  For the crew, a musical production requires more light changes and sound cues than other types of plays, so they have to be truly on top of things.  Because High School Musical is such a popular movie, the audience (every show was to a fully-packed house) knows every lyric to every song.  The potential for error is high. 

When the risk of failure is high, the reward for success is high as well.  That's why we do it.  As I sat in the audience yesterday, I saw students who could tell they were pulling off something amazing, and they were enjoying every second of it.  Acting allows students to do and say things they wouldn't in their real lives.  One of the kindest students in the world gets to enjoy playing the conniving Sharpay.  A serious student can experience what it is like to be goofy.  During the final moments of "We're All in This Together," grinning students came into the aisles and invited people to stand up and dance and sing with them.  It was fabulous.

We should encourage students to take risks.  Plays provide that opportunity, but our classes can too.  We should provide opportunities for them to stretch beyond their current abilities.  We should give them chances to try something big, knowing we will be there to support them if they fail.  In our chemistry and physics classes, for example, we have a project called the "free choice" project.  It's pretty much what it sounds like.  Students choose their own chemistry or physics related topic, work either alone or in groups, and explore it in whatever way they would like.  Most students play it fairly safe, which is fine; but when a student says they would like to do something especially challenging,  I encourage them to try.  Sometimes, it is successful, and sometimes, it is not.  A few years ago, a student asked if he could build a rail gun.  We talked through the obstacles involved and discussed where he might seek out the expert assistance he needed (because it was definitely not me).  We planned for success, knowing it was unlikely.  While he never launched a projectile, he put in more hours and learned more physics than anyone who has ever done this project.  I told him at the end that I would rather he aim high and miss than aim low and succeed.  This year, a student said he wanted to send something into space.  He showed me what he had in mind.  My only question was, "Are your parents going to be okay with you spending this kind of money?" because the balloon and helium setup were expensive.  The weather was uncooperative, and his first attempt on a weekend didn't work.  He wanted to try again, so his dad checked him out of school that Monday, and I gave him an extension on the presentation.  

The results were epic.  This screen grab from his video shows just how high he got his Lego man to go.  I mean, you can see the curvature of the Earth!  He was excited to do his presentation to the class, and you could tell in the video how excited he was to launch it and find the payload after having tracked it to the place where it landed.  

When students collaborate to construct a medieval manor, grow plants they can eat, make their own fireworks, solve a problem they didn't think they could solve, or even just have a week with too much packed into it,  there is a chance for failure.  Some parents and teachers avoid that because they don't want students to feel bad during our current epidemic of anxiety and depression.  But the best antidote to those things is achievement.  Feeling good about an accomplishment results in confidence, and it strengthens the neurological pathways between reward and ambition, which makes future ambition more likely.  Even when failure does happen, if we properly support them, their brain benefits from the recognition that failure wasn't death, which has a neurological benefit of its own.

Every day can't be high-risk / high-reward days.  Some days aren't fun (and that's an important lesson too).  Some days have to be about gathering facts and amassing knowledge so you have something to be ambitious with.  But where you can work it in, giving students an opportunity to stretch themselves is a good idea.  It doesn't have to be on the level of sending something to space; it could be tackling a challenging piece of writing or trying a math problem in an unconventional way or taking on an interesting artistic challenge.  Providing them with opportunities to fail or succeed on whatever level we can will build their confidence and result in growth.