At Crane School, education transcends the traditional confines of classrooms and textbooks. It’s not merely about acquiring facts; it’s about a profound journey, an adventure called experiential learning.
Coined as “learning by doing,” “project-based learning,” or, as Crane calls this core educational value, “Doing Deepens Discovery.” This alliterative term is defined as, “Learning is a journey, not a destination, and we know that engaging not just minds, but also hands and hearts leads to real transformation.”
John Pagano, Crane’s Engineering Director and Experiential Education Coordinator, describes Crane’s experiential learning as magical, yet devoid of any literal magic. Indeed, the magic lies in teachers’ intentional crafting of educational experiences that resonate with the students and offer space to experiment, fail, and reflect, making learning memorable, highly academic, and joyfully playful.
The experiential learning landscape at Crane is diverse and rich. It begins in kindergarten and continues through eighth grade with it intensifying in the middle school years when adolescents connect their academic pursuits to their daily lives, fostering a sense of agency as they use acquired knowledge to make informed decisions.
Joel Weiss, Head of School, emphasizes, “It is at the heart of a Crane education. We deliver it every day, all day, and in every way.” It appears in tiny ways throughout the day, such as tools teachers use to re-engage students, and in big ways, such as a week-long trip to the south to enhance Civil Rights education or a semester-long passion project.
A recent addition to the curriculum, Highly Experiential Education Day (HEED), is a dedicated day for activities that go beyond the confines of a typical daily schedule. Instead of a 45-minute math class or a 90-minute block of science, students devote nearly seven hours to a specific project.
During the first HEED of the school year, fourth graders deepened their understanding of California’s Central Valley and the many crops it produces, by building planter boxes on their classroom deck, planting seedlings, creating watering schedules, and writing stories about imaginary gardens.
The experience involved power tools, safety goggles, muscle, sweat, and perseverance. Students and teachers were faced with materials with slightly incorrect dimensions, but they problem-solved and made great progress in what will be a journey as they continue to nurture their seedlings and create multimedia presentations documenting their HEED experience.
Seventh graders were elated about the opportunity to compete in what their math and English teachers coined “The Great Crane Bake Off,” a competition that tied together their study of the novel The Outsiders, and the inspiration for chocolate cake, and their knowledge of mathematics.
With that excitement came complicated recipes requiring meticulous math calculations, an element of storytelling and creativity as they explained to the judges the calculations they used to update their recipes, the aesthetics and ideas behind their cake creations, as well as how they overcame trying team dynamics and learned to listen to others’ opinions and make group decisions.
Crane’s commitment to experiential learning goes beyond the ordinary, shaping students who are not just knowledgeable, but resilient, creative, and deeply engaged in their own learning journey.
The best way to see experiential learning in action is to visit Crane’s 12-acre campus in Montecito (1795 San Leandro Lane, Santa Barbara, CA 93108) where we serve students in kindergarten through grade 8. For admissions information or to schedule a school tour, contact Erin Guerra, 805-969-7732 x106, or visit www.craneschool.org.
