Our values drive life here at OA. We have Four Cornerstones and Seven Principles that guide us. Read more about the Four Cornerstones on our website pages: Intellect, Craft, Environment, Community. I’ve outlined some of the ways that the Seven Cornerstones show up throughout our daily routines at OA, incorporating input from other faculty and students.
Curiosity
Curiosity is the driving force behind academics at OA. Students shared that the observation notebooks they are required to keep for science class made them ask questions about the world around them that they never would have thought of otherwise. Curiosity is encouraged during Bridge class, a weekly field trip connecting to themes in English, Science, and History classes, where students need to have three questions about the place they will visit before they even get on the bus. Without Google at their fingertips, students are forced to stay curious without the instant gratification of an answer.
Work Ethic
It takes hard work to be a good member of a community. Practicing good work ethic is built into the schedule at OA with daily chores, dish crew, work crew, and study hall. Some duties like work crew are a fun practice in working together to get things done, like building new stairs, or chopping wood for the woodstoves. Others help flex the muscle of individual responsibility, like chores, where each student has an assigned area to keep clean each day. But work ethic is built into so much more of student life. Students work hard each day from learning the new skills required to make their craft projects to completing their readings to participate in class discussions.
Simple Living
OA forces us to cut back on all the extra stuff and focus on what really matters. Students leave their phones at home, and only bring the items listed on the two page packing list provided to them. Removing technology from life is a huge factor of simple living at OA. Instead of scrolling when they wake up, students do Morning Watch, a short daily reflection hike. Simple living extends to other parts of OA life, from the meals cooked on campus, often with locally grown food (sometimes from our garden), to repairing what we have, instead of buying something new.
Integrity
I’ve heard examples of integrity at OA as “picking up the old nacho everyone’s walked by 20 times,” and “walking on the gravel path instead of cutting across the grass, even when nobody is watching.” Basically, hold yourself and others accountable. CIRCLE class (Community, Identity, Relationships, Communication, Leadership, Ethics) helps teach skills that uphold the integrity principle, such as feedback and ownership. Feedback allows students and faculty alike to ensure that one another is acting by the agreed upon community norms and ethics, by giving space for dialogue when that may not be the case. Ownerships are also a great skill for integrity building. We own things we’ve done that did not feel aligned with our values. The community of OA thrives on everyone’s integrity and accountability.
Stewardship
“Paying attention is a form of reciprocity with the living world, receiving the gifts with open eyes and open heart.” This quote is from Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, the essential text for Environmental Science class at OA. Students at OA learn about stewardship as reciprocity between all beings, including the chicken on the lunch plate, the clover in the field, and the friends in their cabin. Paying attention comes in the form of Morning Watch, observation notebooks, solos, and trail navigating. Stewardship also comes in the form of work crews and chores, caring for our physical space.
Self-Reliance
When I was first reviewing the seven principles, this one stumped me. I felt that my idea of self-reliance contradicted community, one of our cornerstones. However, through conversations with my fellow faculty, I came to see the meanings self-reliance takes on at OA. For most students, OA is the first time they’ve lived away from home. With all this newfound independence comes a need for self-reliance. Self-reliance means that you take responsibility for yourself, you don’t think someone else will clean up your messes. It also means that, as a community, we rely on ourselves to keep warm (stoke the woodstove), create and fix things we need (craft classes), entertain ourselves (play music and games), and so much more.
Gratitude
We see gratitude at every turn at OA. First thing in the morning, sitting in their spots at the top of the Morning Watch Trail, many students take this time to reflect on what they are grateful for. As Leader of the Week, students share their gratitudes before each meal time, and then everyone thinks about what they are grateful for once we sit down for a meal, with our tradition of “Give Thanks.” Then, at Goodnight Circle, there is once again an opportunity to share appreciations for your peers. These overt practices in gratitude are reminders that we are so lucky to live here at OA, even if just for four months.