How does it work at ZigZag?

A "typical" day

Please watch this mini-documentary to get a glimpse of a day at ZigZag.

Parents drop off their young ones between 9:30 and 10:00. At 10:00, the community meets for what we call “Set The Day Circle.” Everyone gathers to review and add offerings, classes, and meetings that will take place that day. Some of those are scheduled for a specific time and place, others are identified as "See Me," and can happen at any point during the day. These opportunities come from kids, facilitators, and volunteers.

Following the Set the Day Circle, kids gather with a facilitator in small groups of 7-12 (called “Spawns”) for 10-15 minutes to check in and play connecting games — allowing everyone to get to know each other better, and feel more connected in the community.

What happens between 10:30 and 3:30 may be best described simply as “magic.” It changes monthly, weekly, daily. The days are full of classes, games, discussions, stories, creation, collaboration, and surprises. It’s all work and it’s all play. Some activities are recurring (for example, a weekly Spanish class or coding club), some are one-time scheduled events (maybe a group outdoor game or art project), and others are spontaneous and unscheduled. Some may even last for months or the whole year (like a tree house that kids built from the ground up over two semesters, or a a kid-created Musical with script-writing, rehearsals, costume-making, and performance).

And so much growth and learning and joy happens in the “in-between” spaces of chatting and connecting outside of any formal activity.

At 3:00, everyone returns to their Spawn to reflect on the day, and clean up the space they are in.

Offers

Offers are made during "Set the Day Circle" by young people, facilitators, volunteers, and other community members we invite. They vary widely based on interest. Some of our recurring offers include Mystery Science, math games, comic book making, flow arts, lego robotics, sewing, field games, singing circles, yoga, obstacle courses, jewelry making, storytelling, basket weaving, ASL.

Classes

Classes provide our young people with access to mentors from the community, and allow them to build accumulative knowledge and skills. Young people choose the classes they want a semester ahead, and as with everything we do, they only participate in classes they're excited about. Here's our Spring 2024 linenup:

Tuesdays

Coding with Robotics, Lego, makey/makey (first 8 weeks) - Keli

We will learn how to program Edison Bots to navigate around obstacles, mazes, and draw patterns. We’ll add legos to create new functions, and get a crash course in programming makey/makey, the circuit board with infinite possibilities.

Cooking & Baking - Matthew

Every morning after morning circle, a different mentor will gather with interested kids in the kitchen, and whip up something delicious together. We focus on natural food recipes with little artificial ingredients and low sugar. In prior years, we’ve had everything from spiced pumpkin soup, to rainbow smoothies, to lentil dahl, to freshly baked bread.

Electronics - Fred

Fix old electronics and bring them back to life, take apart machines to see how they work, design and build creative new inventions.

Wood carving + Woodworking - Aspen

We’ll learn basic carving techniques, tool safety, and use power tools to continue expanding on the large play structure, as well as work on personal projects.

Japanese Language & Culture - Alec

We’ll learn basic Japanese and have conversations to get us closer to understanding Japanese culture. Alec will also bring in activities and his personal experiences spending time in Japan to further that goal.

Intro to Music - Roh

Roh plays an insane amount of instruments, and she’s delighted to share her knowledge by supporting kids who want to start out with learning the basics of any of the instruments we have at ZigZag. She will also offer basic music reading skills, and probably frequently throw in a music jam as well!

Soccer - Matthew

We play chill games, often over music, with real-time coaching to gain better skills. Offered every day with a different mentor.

Fort building - Aspen

We’ll experiment with building forts out of different materials.

OWL 2 (first 10 weeks. Ages ~9+) - Chelsey

Our Whole Lives is a secular sexuality and relationship education curriculum. Chelsey has been teaching this for years at ZigZag and at her prior ALC, and it’s been transformative in how it has normalized consent conversations in our culture, among many other untold benefits. More here: https://bit.ly/3I7G5Kr

Digital Art - Keli

Using iPads, Keli will explore with interested young people the wide range of capabilities of proCreate, and the new animation app proCreate Dreams, while making some super cool art. Also, each person will have an opportunity to design a page about themselves for the school yearbook using proCreate and Canva.

Quiet Meditation (sometimes guided) - Anna

It’s so rare that the studio is ever quiet, and some of the kids want to experience totally quiet meditation there for an hour. Anna might provide guidance for some of the sessions if there’s a request for that.

Smash, Boom, Best: podcast-style debates - Carla

Carla will host our own ZigZag take on this popular debate show format. Check out the podcast here: https://www.smashboom.org/

Gardening - Aspen

We just finished building a new stone garden bed over the break, and now it’s ready for some creative planning and planting! So excited to have a garden this year.

Field Games - Roh

Daily field games are super popular, and fun! We usually play capture the flag, though there’s been a more recent infusion of flag football.

3-D Printing - Fred

Put your 3D object design into the queue, and watch it come to life on our 3D printer. You can choose from an existing library of designs, or make your own by using a software design tool. In the past, people have often printed custom game pieces to play games they came up with.

Wednesdays

Pottery (starts first week of March) - Ko'alani

We just acquired a kiln and two pottery wheels, and are super excited about adding ceramics to our weekly lineup. Ko’alani has decades of experience, and likes to work one-on-one with interested young people to tailor the session to their specific skills and curiosities.

Cooking & Baking - Ceiara

We're excited for Ceiara to be mentoring this class again. she loves experimenting with altering recipes, and making food that is delicious and fits various dietary needs.

History - Betsy

Every week we explore a different historical subject more closely. We approach History from first-hand accounts and stories, and often discuss how the common-person experience might’ve been like in different historical contexts. This is Betsy’s second year of supporting kids who are fascinated by History.

Fireside Connection - singing and storytelling with Roh

Humans are no strangers to connecting deeply over a roaring fire. We’ll gather outside around the fire, learn songs, and share stories.

Coding Club - Jordan

Young people work on their own computer programming projects (mostly scratch, but all languages welcome), with Jordan supporting them with design ideas, bug fixes, or new approaches to challenges they might face.

Mural - Anna

We’re extending the ZigZag mural wall by adding new scenes, and incorporating mosaics and 3-D tiny houses into the design.

Field Games - Matthew

Daily field games are super popular, and fun! We usually play capture the flag, though there’s been a more recent infusion of flag football.

Aerial Silks - Jen

Young people have been creatively playing on silks at ZigZag for a while, and this semester Jen is going to join them, and share her skills and knowledge to teach them new techniques and cool tricks!

Video Production (filming & editing music and dance videos) - Roh

We will learn how to make a short video production using a Pixel 6 camera, then edit it using CapCut. We will start with producing a music video, then a dance video, then we’ll open it up to other productions people might be interested in creating.

Teen Talks - Chelsey

This is a fun, lightly facilitated safe space for open sharing and discussion around topics that interest teens. Often combined with drawing/crafting.

Science experiments - Keli

There are always controlled explosions of course, and there will be kitchen science (making edible water bottles, popping boba balls), body science (are you a super taster?), and lots of solving science mysteries.

Changing Bodies(for female-identified kids ~8+) - Melissa

This is a safe space for young female-bodied people to discuss changes to their bodies and changing feelings and emotions that will happen as they go through puberty.

Soccer - Brock

We play chill games, often over music, with real-time coaching to gain better skills. Offered every day with a different mentor.

DJing 101 (first 4 weeks) - Anthony

This will be an opportunity for a small number of kids to get a one-on-one 1-hour crash course on DJing from someone who’s been doing it since he were 7! They will learn on Tony’s professional Controller and software.

Thursdays

ZigZag Band - Roh

The ZigZag band is coming together again for the fourth semester, learning and practicing songs each week. Style is generally rock music. They usually have a performance at the end of the semester.

Cooking & Baking - Natasha

Natasha is cool as a cucumber, and likes to play music and teach kids to make healthy delicious vegetarian meals to share with the community.

Fireside Connection - Lora

Knitting and other types of crafts that are fun to do while chatting around a fire.

Pokémon Trading Card Game - Bird

Bird, from Morgan's Comics, has been into Pokémon all their lives, and we’re thrilled to have them join us with their skills and excitement about the game.

Coding Club - Dan

Hairstyling - Roh

Young people will get a chance to learn all kinds of hairstyling techniques, and practice on mannequins, as well as any volunteers!

Improv & Connection Games - Hany

We will play improv and group games to bring us into connection and playfulness with one another, and as a way of getting to break the ice and get to know people we might have connected with otherwise.

In the News (worldwide current events) - Hany

Hany will offer a space to share and discuss international news and current events, with the intention of bringing more awareness and understanding into our lives about the bigger world and our place in it.

Acrobatics - Matthew

We will set up the mats in the studio, and practice partner lifting, balancing, and various acro yoga poses.

Soccer - Preston

We play chill games, often over music, with real-time coaching to gain better skills. Offered every day with a different mentor.

DIY Furniture & Décor - Keli

Upcycle some old chairs, mirrors or whatever inspires us, and create something fun and awesome. Or we may get some old toys or stuffies, and make a lamp out of them. We’ll see where our creativity takes us!

Messy Art - Keli

Keli loves to play with paint and will invite creativity with different art supplies, getting messy at will, with a focus more on the process and experimentation than any particular product.

OWL 3 (ages 12+) - Chelsey

Field Games - Matthew

Daily field games are super popular, and fun! We usually play capture the flag, though there’s been a more recent infusion of flag football.

Musical - Anne

The Musical is back for the third semester, and this time hosted by the awesome Anne, with her extensive background in theater and acting. The last two semesters, kids wrote and produced their own musical from scratch, which was amazing to watch throughout and at the performance! This semester they are leaning more into having a hybrid of something already written that they can customize. We’ll see how it all unfolds!

Teen Cooking - Anna

Teens enjoy working on advanced recipes, and that’s when they get in the kitchen with Anna to do it. In previous semesters, they made things like a 3-tier cake, fruit soufflé, and other delicacies.

Math Games - Morgan

Morgan is back again this semester, bringing fun and interactive ways to play with math, from puzzles, to riddles, to board games, and more!

Teen Wednesdays

Age mixing is one of the cool things that underlies the vibe at ZigZag. And as young people get into their teenage years, their desire also grows to have the campus just to themselves every once in a while. So we added a a few hours every Wednesday from 3:30 to 6:00 where they can get just that. They tend to cook dinner together, play games, and socialize.

Family Field Trips

Family field trips are organized for many Mondays and Fridays, the two weekdays we don't meet on campus. They are opportunities for families to gather, connect, explore, and learn together outside of ZigZag. Some examples of field trips this year have been: bowling, Cradle of Forestry, Pisgah Astronomy Center, pottery glazing, rocket launching, snow tubing, Chimney Rock, WLOS weather news, Veterinarian Emergency Group tour, Asheville Murals tour, Pumpkin Fest, Venardo's Circus, various Plays, various hikes.

Family Meetups & Gatherings

We want to extend our power-with liberation work beyond our interaction with young people at ZigZag, so we offer monthly Family Meetups. They're a space where we share de-schooling tools, power-with training, and provide a space to support each other in practicing connected parenting at home. We also often gather for pot-lucks, camping trips, connection games, volunteer work days, and other opportunities to build a wider community outside of ZigZag.

classes

AGILE LEARNING COMMUNITY

How does it work at ZigZag?

Tuesdays

Wednesdays

Thursdays