Students learn why they continue to change and grow
At a glance, you might think you are walking into an anatomy class with a large illustration of the brain on a slide with definitions of the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, and cerebellum displayed on the side of the brain image.
Appropriately titled Why Things Change and How We Grow, the class explores the idea of change through big questions. Teacher Brittany King is wanting campers to think deeply about how change shows up in their lives like starting a new grade, making tough choices, and becoming more independent.
When asked what the prefrontal cortex does, Ezra responds, “decision making.” King pushed the question farther with, “when would you want to use it?” Several responded, “right now!”
As students used different colored clay to create the parts of the brain, they discussed each area and how they used their brain for daily activities and decisions. Zayden pointed to where the amygdala and cerebellum are in the brain and what they control on his clay model.Â
As the white board stated and campers repeated, the amygdala is for emotion and the cerebellum is for movement coordination. Callaway discussed how these sections of the brain, as illustrated on her clay model, interact with each other.  “I was excited to go to camp (emotion), so I started planning early (movement coordination),” she said.
“Is the brain ever done evolving?” asked King. “No!” everyone exclaimed. One thing is for sure, these campers are learning great lessons about why they will continue to change as they grow.
