I am proud of the students who continue to volunteer to guest blog about their experiences at MJDS.

Over the past couple of weeks, Our science class has been building a structure prototype, designed to withstand earthquakes. We split ourselves into pairs, were given instructions, and told to research.  From our research, we bought our materials and started to build. It’s been so cool to see our structure rise from some styrofoam to a full on building model, and likewise for all the other buildings. We built base isolation systems, frames, and glued it all together with countless hot glue sticks.

In a way, you could relate our MJDS community to our earthquake prototype building. Starting from the bottom, the MJDS teachers are the base isolation systems. Base isolation systems separate the ground from the building, so the buildings don’t shake with the ground. At first glance, base isolation systems don’t seem like much. But once you know a little bit about buildings, base isolation systems are undeniably the most important part. Teachers (and parents) shelter us from the world while still allowing us to experience things for ourselves.

The students at MJDS are like the frame of our building. It’s what people who look at our school see, as most see the frame of a building first. A good frame certainly helps a building withstand an earthquake, but it’s not the most important part. While the school makes the students, students do not make the school.

The administrative staff, janitors, donors, and everyone else behind the scenes make up the glue. While no one notices the glue, without it the building would be a pile of sticks and styrofoam. And if you don’t have enough glue, the frame can break apart at the first sign of stress. You also don’t realize how much glue has gone into the building at first glance. This is just like how I am in awe about how many people work at our school that I’ve never met. 

Last Friday me and my partner tested our building at UWM. Let’s just say it didn’t go as planned… The base isolation system fell apart and our building was the only one that fell. Needless to say, we learned a lot about earthquakes and building techniques from this project, even if the final product wasn’t very successful. This perfectly explains how MJDS values the learning process and the outcome doesn’t matter that much. And, at the end of the process you reflect on it all.