Episode #90: Being the Controller of My Learning with Aidyn Grice

Aidyn Grice is a 6th-grade doing 9th-grade math and is a student at Norris Academy in Mukwonago, Wisconsin. I met Aidyn and his mom, Nicole, at the Aurora Institute (past was iNACOL) conference in October 2019 in Palm Springs where Aidyn who was an amazing speaker on the student panel. After talking to Aidyn, his mom, and Johnna Noll, Executive Director of Norris Academy, we decided it was time for a conversation with Aidyn on my podcast.<br />Where did you grow up<br />I was born and raised in a small city outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. About two years ago, we moved to Mukwonago when my mom got a job at Norris Academy.<br />Aidyn eating pancakes with maple syrup he made at Norris Academy. <br />They tapped maple trees and boiled the sap down to make the syrup.<br /><br />Let’s talk about school <br />I thought school was normal until I went to Norris Academy and I saw how big a change it was and how the communities are different than my other school. Kindergarten was fun at West Allis with a good environment and nice people. Then starting in first grade, we were sitting at desks doing your work all day through session after session. We did math in the morning and then reading in the afternoon every day for the entire year. It kind of got boring after a while. I thought that’s what school was going to be like for the rest of my life. This is what I would have to do: suck it up and deal with school so I could go on with my life.  <br />After you started Norris Academy, what was different about school for you?<br /><br />It was really different, actually. There is a big difference between this school and the local school in how the school is structured and the environment. This school is way more about you and not always thinking it’s the kids, sometimes it may be the teacher. Sometimes you might like a teacher but sometimes you may need a different teacher. In my other school, if there was a problem, it was the kids problem. But at Norris, we look at both sides of it so we can work it out. <br />Johnna Noll, Exe