Sunnyside may come across like a place where children do a lot of outdoor learning , more exploration and fun stuff. Naturally, questions may pop up in a parent's mind “But what about academics? Do they think it is important or do they completely ignore it ? “

It all began rather simply with Abdullah, one of our senior high schoolers, a handful of planks, and a small idea that children could make real things with their own hands. Abdullah has always been a tinkerer; fixing cars, taking apart computers, and figuring out how things work just for the fun of it. Carpentry was one more thing that caught his curiosity, and soon he found himself spending hours experimenting with wood, tools, and design and loving every bit of the process.

Every journey begins with a single step—or in our case, a single pencil line. What started as a quiet exploration of pencil shading soon unfolded into a rich, layered journey through the many mediums and methods of visual art. It has been as much about discovery as it has been about discipline.

Over the past two weeks, our elementary group explored India's freedom struggle leading up to the Web of Independence activity.