Advanced Learning Services, ‘Genius Hour’ project help student explore her passion for learning and science

Fourth-grader Sadie Janz’s passion for learning has come alive through Advanced Learning classes at Sky Oaks Elementary.

Advanced Learning Services, part of District 191 Pathways, serves students who have been identified as having higher academic or learning needs and are offered districtwide.

One way that Dr. Mandi Jensen, Advanced Learning Specialist at Sky Oaks, supports and empowers students is through the Genius Hour project, a student-directed project that involves a self-selected topic of interest, research and a demonstration of the student’s learning. It is inspired by Google's "20% time" policy for employees and allows students to take ownership of their learning by choosing their own research question and creating a final product to share with others. 

During last spring’s Advanced Learning session, Sadie used Genius Hour to learn about the death cap mushroom. She spent dedicated time in class learning everything she could about the mushrooms and shared her findings with her teacher and classmates through a slidedeck and WeVideo presentation. Did you know death cap mushrooms come from Eurasia and have a symbiotic relationship with trees? Did you know you can identify death cap mushrooms by their gills? Also, don’t eat a death cap mushroom as they are responsible for 90% of mushroom-related deaths due to their amatoxins that damage the kidneys and liver! 

Sadie decided to take her death cap mushroom project to the next level. She created a display board from information she gathered for her Genius Hour project and entered it into the Environmental Science project area of the Dakota County Fair for judging. Sadie, a longtime 4-H member, received a blue ribbon for her project and was named Grand Champion in her division (3rd-5th grade). Ranking Grand Champion in a project area is the highest honor given, and only one Grand Champion is given in each division for each project area. It represents not only excellence of a polished project, but also is a reflection of her learning that she was able to demonstrate during her one-on-one judging interview. 

“Sadie is a beautiful example of what it means to find the spark and love of learning while at school,” said Jensen. “Sadie’s passions are far reaching and include more than just the death cap mushroom."

Sadie loves science, art, crocheting and cooking, and has aspirations to play professional volleyball.

“The school projects have been great because it gives her dedicated time to do the research and a great teacher to guide her,” said Leah Janz, Sadie’s mom. “It gives her opportunities to challenge her brain which she so very much needs.” 

In District 191, Elementary Pathways is designed to excite students and give them a glimpse into their future. It encourages them to wonder and reflect on what’s next in their learning journey. Elementary Pathways learning is not tracking students and asking them to choose a career path. Rather, Pathways aims to introduce elementary students to different experiences to spark curiosity, wonder and a love of learning.

This story has been written in collaboration with Dr. Mandi Jensen.