While riding to school yesterday my 6 year old son told me about an injustice that occurred.

At our school they are responsible for chickens and split the eggs evenly every Friday.

Apparently one of the Eagle's doesn’t actually eat the eggs and just wastes them.

This was really bothering him.

For a brief instant I had thoughts like:

“That’s wrong and I’ll fix it!”

“Did you tell a guide!?”

Then I remembered that our school was about equipping children with tools and trusting them to solve their own problems (as long as no lasting harm is done).

I barely restrained myself and asked “What are you going to do about it?”

His response:

“I’ll call for an emergency town meeting so we don’t have to wait until Friday for the regular meeting. I just need to convince the other Eagles to vote to create a new rule”

I forgot all about it...but when we got to school he RAN into the classroom and was promptly stopped by an older Eagle who said:

“Charlie I observed you running in the classroom and you are breaking your promise to treat the studio like a sacred place. I’m asking you for an Eagle buck - in the future please walk in the classroom.”

He was running to fill out the form to call a town meeting

At our school we use Eagle bucks as their currency earned through hard work - and the Eagles have their own rules and standards they hold each other accountable to.

I went to work in the office and forgot all about it...

At bed time last night we were talking about the day and he told me that he had to be brave when he stood up and read his town hall meeting form out loud.

He had convinced them to hold a vote.

Apparently this Eagle was not telling the truth about the eggs and recieved an Eagle buck penalty after the council debated what the exact penalty for dishonesty should be.

They drafted and implemented a new rule about the eggs: don’t waste eggs! If they you don't like eggs then you can give the eggs to someone who does. Spread the wealth.

He’s laying in bed and tells me, “It’s like I’m the governor....”

Trust me when I say our children are capable of so much more than we give them credit for.

Being parent at Active Leadership Academy requires trust in your child.

Our school requires a lot of trust in the processes, tools and methods.

It’s certainly not for every parent and you must curb your need to rescue them constantly or solve their problems for them.

Rescuing them destroys their ability to learn.

I’m grateful that I chose to trust my son to solve his own problem yesterday and fought my instinct to rescue him.

I’m so grateful that we found the Acton Academy model and started our school Active Leadership Academy!

There is a better way than traditional school.

These are the kids that will change the world!