Compass Montessori Junior High

Detroit Trip Summary by Compass Junior High Students

Our journey to Detroit started bright and early. As we drove our school vans into the city, we made memories that will last a lifetime. When we finally arrived after the vigorous drive, we headed straight to the DIA. We got to take in meaningful art and creations while reflecting on the pieces we loved. We described what we saw, thought, and wondered about five pieces in five different, unique exhibits. This truly helped the students break down the art and gain a deeper understanding of it. After the DIA, we went to Meijer and got our food for the week! Soon after, we ended our day at the tasty Bucharest Grill.

On day two, we had a slow morning that we enhanced with a fresh variety of bagels, and many indulged in warm tea. After the morning meeting, we ventured over to the Charles M. Wright Museum. This museum taught us all about African American history. Our lovely tour guide, Ja-tu, not only took us through a museum but also took us through a story. The rooms and makeshift town really made us feel deeply about this topic and truly opened our eyes to history. After the museum, we had a lovely picnic-like lunch at Lasalle Park. After filling ourselves with delicious sandwiches, we ventured to the Motown Museum. Here, we learned almost everything about Motown and truly dived deeply into this topic. We even got the opportunity to stand in the studio where famous Motown artists such as the Temptations and Stevie Wonder once sang. After learning the Temptations walk, we headed back to the hostel to relax before the Detroit Pistons game.

Now, day three was upon us. We started our day full of learning at the Ford River Rouge Plant. We got to watch two very interesting presentations; one about history and the second all about how to build an F-150. Everyone really enjoyed the elaborate presentation on the step-by-step process on how to build the Ford F-150. After, we walked through the manufacturing and assembly lines. Our wonderful tour guides helped show us all the cool tools and machines that are used. After we left the plant, we enjoyed lunch at the Michigan Central Station. We got to go inside and learn about the history. After our time at the station, we visited the famous Belle Isle. We got to see the oldest aquarium in the US and a beautiful conservatory. After seeing all the types of fish, we headed downtown to look at all the monuments and learn more about the history of our country. We explained our knowledge about the underground railroad and the civil war. After our brief history lesson, we had dinner at the Detroit Shipping Co. After a wonderful dinner, we called it a night and headed home.

Read the full summary on our blog > Link in bio!

A big thank you to 4Front Credit Union for visiting Compass Montessori Junior High and sharing their expertise! 💰 Our students learned about the different types of interest, how to budget, and how credit unions work.

Lessons like these help our students build real-world financial skills and confidence for the future. We’re so grateful for your time and support in empowering us to be financially literate! Downtown TC (Official)

The first four weeks of school are monumental in Montessori. In every classroom, guides are using the prepared environment to provide structure for learners even as we orient them to it. Orientation is a human tendency - it sets expectations for behavior within a space so that the space feels safe for freedom and independence. With this structure, learners are able to learn, contribute, and express themselves.

At each level, orientation matches the needs of the learner. For us, here in the third plane, it includes interviewing for and getting classroom roles, setting up organization systems such as bullet journals and binders, identifying values and creating classroom agreements, building their own dictionary to collect words they will encounter throughout the year, and meeting with their advisor to begin to talk about themselves as a learner.

All of our workshops are taught in the Montessori three period style. During the first period, we introduce the topic; the second period is the time for exploration and experimentation; and in the third period, our learners create a final piece to demonstrate their new understanding. Our first period for Chemistry and Community is coming to a close. We have enjoyed immersive lessons from real people doing the work in our community at Timothy's Conscious Compost, Cultured Kombucha Co., Green Bird Regenerative Vineyard, and Food Rescue.

Learning in the community allows us to take our academic subjects on the road. We noticed in our math assessments that our learners would benefit from fraction review. Our first period provided a wealth of real-world examples to do math "in the field" during these first-period visits, and upon our return. Fractions and percentages in the classroom become ratios out in the world: recipes for compost and kombucha; comparisons of salaries and profit; rates of change for yields and earnings of farmers and farm workers. This is one example of the way we integrate subject learning into real-world experiences and aim to provide touchpoints in every subject, everyday. It helps learners see just how important the subjects they learn in school will continue to be in their daily lives.

Congratulations to Arthur Lijewski-Lee, Compass Montessori Junior High graduate, on being a National Merit Semifinalist!

TCAPS Has Four National Merit Semifinalists This Year Last week, we told you about Anna Bauer, Kingsley High School’s first-ever National Merit Semifinalist. This week, Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) has announced that four of its class of 2026 seniors have earned the same prestigious honor. The four students, all of whom attend Traverse C...

Beaver Island Trip Summary by Compass Junior High Students

In the second week of school, Compass junior high students and teachers embarked on a trip to Beaver Island. We took the school vans and drove to Charlevoix, where we then took a ferry out to the Island.

Once we got there, we visited the maritime museum and the print shop. They were both amazing experiences, and everyone had a great time. After, we headed over to the CMU Biology station, where we stayed throughout the course of the trip. We got to meet Alex, Alliss, and Jaki, the employees that worked at CMU. We ended our first day with sunset volleyball and a delicious dinner curated by our favorite Jaki.

On the second day, we got to meet with the Beaver Island 7th and 8th-year students and their principal, Mr. Will. We learned about bug ecology and dune life. We also visited Miller's Marsh and studied the soil there. We then headed to the Big Rock, which is actually made of a stone that's from Ohio, but the glaciers carried it all the way to Beaver Island! We fit all of the students from both schools on the rock.

On our last day, we met with an insightful person named Shelbi. She told us about Native American culture and history. She then took us to the stone circle, which is an arrangement of ancient stones. The circle is made up of about 200 stones. No one knows exactly why the stones were placed there, but people know that it’s significant. We then had some time to kill, and we found out that our friends from the Beaver Island school were having a soccer game, so we showed up at their school to watch them, but sadly, we couldn't stay for the soccer game, but we got to see the high school volleyball team play. We said our goodbyes and made our way to the ferry. We were sad to leave, but the memories we cherish will last for a lifetime. Thank you to our guides for making this experience possible.

Student Biographers: Ava and Gwendolyn
Student Photographers: by Olivia, Vaughn, Adrienne, and Hank

Congratulations to the 8th-year graduates! We are incredibly proud of you all. Watching you grow into the people you were meant to be has been a great privilege. We can't wait to see what you do next!

Thank you to the Children's House faculty, staff, and Board of Directors for their ongoing love and support, and especially Tree Sturman, Kristina Weidenfeller, Tori Crag, Alison Hoffman, Steve Maas, Angela Lickiss-Aleo, and Brian Thelen for their guidance. Thank you to the 8th-year families for their wonderful children and partnership.

Pictured Rocks Backpacking Trip Summary
by Compass Student Biographers, Ava and Gwennie

During the second-to-last week of school, our class took a trip to the Upper Peninsula, where we hiked alongside the national lakeshore by the name of Pictured Rocks. We hiked roughly 20 miles over four days through a wide variety of habitats. Our trip was filled with many things like: stunning hikes, campfires, laughter, scary stories, and lifelong memories. We got to experience vibrant sunsets, beautiful white-sand beaches, waterfalls, and rivers. Our days at the Pictured Rocks were not only filled with natural wonders, but we also learned how powerful friendship is. Our class bonded in so many ways that none of us can name. Some of the class's best memories were sitting around the campfire, eating dinner on a big rock during sunset, meeting another class, and just being together. This was a wonderful way to end the year on a good note!

Democratic Movements Trip to Washington D.C.
by Ava and Gwennie
Photography by Olivia

For the workshop, Democratic Movements we all got a chance to choose our own topic. Our assignment was to make a five minute presentation, a research paper, and an art project. Students studied topics like women's rights, immigration rights, maternal rights, non-proliferation and labor rights. Students worked very hard on their papers and artwork but the only thing we brought to DC was our presentations. The reason for this is so we can learn more about public speaking and speaking to an audience instead of just reading off a paper. Another thing we had to get prepared for DC was a location. This gave the student a chance to work on communication skills with adults and corporations as well as working together with peers to plan our trip.

Our trip was filled with learning about topics many of us have never heard of. One of the big locations we visited was the DEA or the Drug Enforcement Administration. Eric took us here to learn about drug misuse and we learned about how much of our population is affected by this horrible disease. Another big moment from the trip was when Giuliana took us to the FBI headquarters which was amazing to see. It's crazy to think we went to the FBI headquarters on a school trip and it was definitely the highlight of the trip for most people. Here we did so many different things like watching a film about the 10 most wanted list right now. It's so weird to think how dangerous a human could be to the point they are literally offering 2 million dollars just for information. We finished off the tour by watching some of the agents do target training while we watched behind a sheet of thick glass. We had never seen anything like it and we were so lucky to be able to have seen that.

On the second night, we got to learn all about the different monuments. We went on the night monument tour, where we basically waited until it was dark and got to walk around DC and learn about the different monuments. Some of the monuments we saw were The Lincoln Memorial, The Washington Monument, and the World War II Memorial. We didn't get to all of them because of how late it was and how tired we were but I'm so glad we got to experience this and everything on this fun trip.
These are only the highlights of the trip, so that really shows how much fun we had and how many different things we experienced. We learned so many different things in the workshop from different students. We are all so grateful to go on these trips and thankful to all of our teachers, Tree, Tori, Kristina, and Brian.having to present in a loud cafeteria with about a hundred people talking over them. Besides that everyone delivered beautifully and you could really see the work they put into researching their topics.

Some students were lucky enough to have somebody to talk with them. Myles and Ava even got people to talk to us in a room about their topic before they began. Students gave their presentations amazingly even though there were some setbacks like having the fire alarm go off during Avas' presentation or Ainsley and Evi having to present in a loud cafeteria with about a hundred people talking over them. Besides that everyone delivered beautifully and you could really see the work they put into researching their topics. topics.

These are only the highlights of the trip so that really shows how much fun we had and how many different things we experienced. We learned so many different things in the workshop from different students. We are all so grateful to go on these trips and thankful to all of our teachers, Tree, Tori, Kristina, and Brian.

March 2025

M is for:
Mélange
Mingle-mangle
Mishmash
Medley
galli-Maufry
…and March.

March is …well, all of the above. It is an eclectic combination of activities, events, and weather, all situated in the weeks between real winter, and spring break. It is also a verb, as in “to march.” When the days are gray, cold, sunny, warm, and altered by time changes, sometimes all we have is the ability to march, to continue to move forward, to persevere.

To kick off the month, we started with Human Growth and Development. We are fortunate to have a continuous partnership with Carrie Ullery-Smith from Planned Parenthood. Students begin working with Carrie in 4th grade, learning reproductive anatomy and healthy relationships. Their learning continues to grow with them as they mature, each year gaining knowledge not only about reproductive health, but also about mutual respect, and safety. Carrie creates a safe environment for students to ask ANY question without fear of embarrassment, or judgement.

Next, students prepared for their second, and final Student Led conference of the year. For some it was a more comfortable version of their first conference in the fall, while for others, it was their last of junior high. No matter if it was the former or the latter, all are snapshots in time of how they are experiencing their education, as well as their roles and relationships within their communities. To be able to see lessons, discussions, experiences, and their peers through their eyes helps us, guides and parents, best understand how they are traveling this part of their journey and informs how we can be good travel partners.

And…theatre, because why not? It’s tradition to send our school off to break with a rousing performance of student created scripts, and improv performances. Students worked over the course of a week to imagine, write, and run several scripts as well as work with instructors to practice classic improv games. Scripts were fine-tuned, slapstick comedy practiced safely, and games such as the favorite “Late for work” refined and ready for the stage. Unfortunately, we were foiled by the first day of spring…and its own tradition of bringing winter back for an encore performance! Thank you to Melissa May, and her team from Old Town Playhouse, for working with our young thespians.

Throughout Human Growth and Development, Conferences, and Theatre, we have continued working in earnest on our “Democratic Movements” workshop, and Washington D.C. trip. Students have selected topics, found multiple resources, identified locations to visit in Washington D.C., conducted interviews, started art projects, and worked on organizing it all into a research papers as well as engaging presentations. Slowly but surely, the itinerary is starting to come together. When we return after break, the following two weeks will be full of finalizing locations, food, transportation, and presentations in preparation for our trip on April 14.

With that, we continue to march forward- Enjoy some rest and relaxation over break!

Classroom Highlights: Testing the Waters
by Kristina Weidenfeller

“When the child goes out, it is the world itself that offers itself to him. Let us take the child out to show him real things instead of making objects which represent ideas and closing them in cupboards.” – Dr. Maria Montessori.

Travel: Etiquette, discomfort, and growth

Each “going out” presents new challenges, new opportunities, and new worlds. The Pigeon Key trip is our first flight of the year, which also qualifies as our first public transportation of the year. Students are faced with packing restrictions, travel etiquette, and the general “inconveniences” of being in a crowd. All the worries start to bubble to top of mind- “I want to share a room with my friends. I don’t want to sit between strangers. What if I don’t like the food?” With the unknown comes opportunity for personal growth.

How do adults act in new, unfamiliar, and/or uncomfortable situations? Which standards do we aspire to, to be “grown ups” and not just humans who have aged into adulthood? One of our classroom agreements is “be aware of your surroundings.” The intention of the agreement is to be aware of the space you are sharing, the experience you are sharing, and the people that are sharing it with you. Why? Different places have different expectations- from dress to decorum. Being able to gracefully navigate multiple settings is what socially fluent humans do, and it begins with being aware.

Being downtown, having to be aware of our surroundings is a constant. We share a wall with an office space, a fairly thin wall. When we walk to recess, we share sidewalks and crosswalks. This becomes bigger as we add walking in spaces that are not familiar, waiting in lines in crowds that aren’t familiar, sharing spaces with strangers, or close spaces with classmates. All of these situations present opportunities to choose how to act, how to respond, and how to manage yourself- since that is the only person in the situation that you have control over. No matter how well you plan for travel, there are always unknowns and surprises. Adaptation is key!

Continue reading on our classroom page > https://www.traversechildrenshouse.org/classroomjh.asp

Autonomy Education by Tree Sturman

Having recently watched the new Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, my mind is highly attuned to the realities of being a young person in a rapidly changing world. I left the movie deep in thought, thinking back at how I felt when I was first introduced to “The Times They Are A-Changin” when I was exactly the same age as my students at Compass Montessori Jr. High. Not unlike the early 1960s, the world today, and thus teenagers today, are experiencing massive cultural and technological transformations.

It is easy to forget that adolescents experience these changes very differently from adults as they are biochemically hardwired to blaze their own trails, question the status quo, and create their own culture that distinguishes them from the adults in their life (especially their parents). Moreover, adolescents’ brains experience a neuroplasticity that allows them to adapt to change much better than the fully formed adult brain. Add to this the as-yet-to-be fully understood impacts of fast-paced, high stimulus, globally integrated technologies, and you have the perfect combination for a profoundly different iteration of Homo sapiens. In short, adolescents today are as, if not more different from their parents and grandparents as Bob Dylan was from his.

In watching A Complete Unknown, I was not-so-subtly reminded that my job as an adult, and especially as a Montessori guide, is to “lend a hand” to these next generations and do my best to understand, not judge, and even better, to be curious about the way they experience the world. Dr. Montessori reminds us to “follow the child,” as they are, not as we might hope for them to be. With this in mind, we must remember that the adolescents that we once were, were essential to the adults we are today.

Having said all this, it remains essential to support adolescents in navigating new technologies, and to provide the boundaries young people have, and will always need in order to safely explore the parameters of their personal identities, as well as their aspirations for the future. At Compass Jr. High we do this by providing as many opportunities as we can muster for self-exploration and expression, while also pushing our students outside (sometimes well outside) their comfort zones. Our most powerful tool in this effort is building community, and engaging with a diversity of other communities here in Michigan, and well beyond the borders of our State. And while modern adolescents may, indeed have much to teach us about the future that they will create, we too have much to teach them about how to be a good citizen of that future, even if we ourselves may not quite understand it… yet.