Growth begins on the inside, therefore in order to help the world truly blossom by taking care of nature and working well with others, children must first understand their inner emotional selves through exploration, because in the end the best way to grow is through play. These are the reasons why I want to create a space that will not only foster growth in these students but also help the community, because if this classroom can make the childhood of these students as bright as it can be, then hopefully they will take what they learned and make the future of the outside world, even brighter. Even though this idea is incredibly inspiring, my inspiration did not come solely from the cedar classroom space, but rather it came from my time being a volunteer at a nature camp for three summers. During this time, I discovered that learning is more than memorization and taking tests, it is an extremely complex process of adaptation, where only through curiosity, and being allowed to answer their own inherent questions, will students learn, because play is the process that allows them to truly grow. In fact, my inspiration to create this project also came from a class I took about social and emotional learning, where I was struck with the idea that students cannot learn intellectually, until they learn emotionally, which is incredibly important because children can only grow if their emotions are in line. However, despite the power that this inspiration had to spark new ideas and change, I also understand that inspiration alone cannot spark action without a clear goal, which is why in order to create this space, I have an overall goal of making a learning environment that first helps students discover their inner selves and what makes them unique and amazing, so that they can find their potentials and reach past them. Then once they have a clear sense of their capacities, I hope that this space will also inspire creativity and wonder through children making their own masterpieces, instead of passively observing others. Thirdly, I hope that once children have a clear sense of their own identities they will begin to work with others, by collaborating with nature, learning how to solve ethical dilemmas, and finally how to work together to reach a common goal, where by only working in harmony can a greater and more beautiful masterpiece be created. Overall, my goal is to create a space design and curriculum that goes against the traditional model of school only focusing on the intellectual aspect of a child, because children are so much more than their brains, they have a heart and creative wonder bursting inside of them, and I want to create a place where the whole child can be discovered, not simply mere fragments. In the end, the journey of learning is not a single mountain, but rather it is a mountain range, and it is our job as educators to help students conquer their first mountain, so in the future they can reach the peaks on their own, and discover the amazing and rewarding result of learning itself, the view. -Kaylee