Stubborn as I was, failing at first was the only way I could then learn from my mistakes and try again later. Mr Egg and his friends? We have no other choice, except to live a less meaningful and less interesting life.For years, Acton Academy Middle Schoolers and Launchpadders have dreamed about beating the Guides at Ultimate Frisbee, much like Cleveland Brown’s fans long for a winning season.When juxtaposed against this session’s Gratitude genre, the exhibition highlighted the power and peril of a free society: gratitude for all that we have been given, and a promise to defend freedoms – like the freedom of speech – so we can pass along our blessings to future generations.Traditional schools have classroom teachers to maintain discipline, dispense knowledge and assign passing grades. Such a pleasure to serve them. Freshman college Biology often serves as a “weed out” course designed to identify those who aren’t prepared for rigorous university-level work.In the past three weeks, that has all changed. So:Let’s face it. Plus, our data is limited to a few dozen Eagles in each studio, so from a national perspective, it’s anecdotal. Armed with tools like Duolingo and Modern States, Launchpadders fearlessly engage with native speaking peers on sites like WeSpeke, accepting a bit of early grammatical stumbling as a way to make friends and learn about different cultures.Life isn’t fair. But important questions, once raised, are seldom forgotten. A nice thought as we kick off a new session.We’ve been fans of Sal Khan from the start, personally, as philanthropic investors and professionally, and were delighted to play a small part when he launched Khan Lab School.The result? A satisfied but weary group of middle school and Launchpad Eagles gathered for “lessons learned” and hard earned praise.Trustworthiness. Guides ask questions instead.Friday, each studio held a Chemistry and Cooking Exhibition: a Top Chef Cook-off and National Science Bowl Chemistry Quiz where teams competed to create surprise dishes while using models, drawings, simulations and descriptions to explain how Chemistry can help a chef.At the Exhibition, we saw powerful renditions of historical and modern politicos, social activists, artists and entrepreneurs, including: Thomas Jefferson advocating for the signing of the Declaration of Independence to the delegates of the Thirteen Colonies in Philadelphia and Mahatma Gandhi calling an audience of Indian citizens to peaceful protest near Ahmedabad. But when we give them this freedom early and allow for ambiguity, we really are equipping them to be able to make big plans in their futures and carry them through with maturity. There is one reason: immersion. But with the right tools, it’s easy to see how a bit of nudging (carefully limited) can keep a studio humming…until it collapses!The indie film – which can be found on Amazon or I-tunes or select local theaters — is directed by former Acton parent Brandon Dickerson, and Acton parents Jeff and Marcy Carpenter and Steve and Jenny Williams serve a Executive Producers.Here are the ingredients we go through when creating every Quest at Acton:Freedom Levels allow each Eagle to earn even more freedom with regard to music, eating, collaboration and other choices, by earning Weekly Points, badges and high 360 Coaching Reviews.An hour of intense concentration on Khan Academy burns up a lot of brain energy and is draining.