Students pick their own Genius Hour subject

When most of us think of the terms “genius moment” or “genius hour,” it’s usually a sarcastic reference to a time when we appeared to have left our brains at home.

However, for the Berg Middle School students who participated in a teacher’s new Genius Hour program, brains were very much brought along. Students opening their minds to a new, constructive activity was the focus of the program, brought in by BMS math teacher Tara Zehr.

“It’s tough to find ways to give kids things that they really want to do, in a way that challenges them,” Zehr said. “The students were allowed to pick their own topics, as long as they’d be learning a new, useful skill.”

The topics in the extra-curricular group ranged from filling in a planter in front of the Berg School Complex to learning how to build a go-cart. There were about 12 students in the new group, which was started fairly late in the school year.

The Genius Hour worked primarily in teams of various sizes. The students who are part of the group were recommended to Zehr by their homeroom teachers. Laura Wyre and Ethan Daniels worked with the planter in front of the school, replacing grass with wood chips and large flowers. Nicholas Tremel was on a go-kart design and construction team, while Anastacia Andersen worked on photography projects.

These four were joined by Haley Budak, Jace Hackworth, Collin Hemann, Harley Neal, Chloe Pak, Jackson Poulson, Tegan Simmons and Bailey Van Sickle in the group.

“There was a lot to the planter project,” Wyre said. “It had to be tilled; we had to get the funding from the student council, and there was some real work in getting it all ready.”

Andersen said she’d taken most of the photos she planned to use for a photography project.

“It was fascinating to me how many changes you can make to photos, just by changing camera settings,” she said.

Tremel said the go-kart project will last into the summer months, as it isn’t quite complete. However, he’s already opened the eyes of at least one classmate.

“I really didn’t think they’d, like, actually plan and build a go-kart,” Wyre said.

While this comment brought a mock dirty look from Tremel, one of the aims of the group seems to be exactly centered on Wyre’s amused skepticism — what do others believe a student can accomplish, and, more importantly, what do those students believe about their own abilities?

“We’ve already learned a great deal about tires, engine sizes and more,” Tremel said.

While eighth-grade students will be moving on to Newton High School in August, they remain excited about the Genius Hour opportunities younger students might encounter in the years ahead.

“It will be great to come back in a year or two, and see what students are working on then,” Daniels said. “I wonder what can be accomplished, if students have a whole school year to work on projects.”

Wyre said the projects became to be about more than simple curiosity.

“It’s fun to learn about and to do new things,” she said. “It’s even more fun to improve them.”