Simmons Middle 8th-graders undertake Passion Project

As part of the eighth-grade language arts program, Simmons Middle School students began working on their Passion Project. This is the school’s second year undertaking the project.

The project is a spinoff of Google's “Genius Hour,” which gives employees 20 percent of their time at work to focus on something they are passionate about in hopes that something will come out of that that helps the company as a whole. Because Google lets its people invest their time in personal passions and pursuits, both the company and the employees thrive. The Simmons Passion Project has the same principle. As part of the curriculum, students are required to do a research paper, so the Passion Project allows them to reflect on something they are passionate about in their own lives and write about it. 

As part of the process, two days of language arts class periods focused on guest speakers sharing their passions and the role their passions play in their lives. Students heard about sports, music, baking, the DEA, domestic violence and missionary work, to name a few. 

One speaker, Don Lutomski, spoke to the students about finances and financial planning, which is his job. He said his passion was that he always wanted to help people and to put people in the position to have flexibility in their lives. This passion is what he addressed with the students. With the help of a visual aid, Lutomski showed the students what would happen if they saved the cost of one Chick-fil-A meal every day over time. The students “saw” the money grow and what would happen as they started their careers, continued to save, participated in a 401(k) program, and took advantage of a company funds-matching program. He reminded the students to get in the habit of saving money early.

Another speaker was eighth-grade science teacher Mike Tucker, who explained he was a teacher by career, but his passion is what he did outside of his job: music. Today, he plays in the group The M-80s, an authentic 1980s pop/rock tribute band. What started as a hobby, playing in places like backyards and a middle school dance, eventually grew to playing in more public venues like Buck Creek Festival in Helena and the rooftop of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis. 

“How often do you get to play the guitar, during a sunset, over the Mississippi River, on the rooftop of a hotel, while over 800 people are dancing to your performance?” Tucker asked the students.

The conference gave students a chance to hear about different passions and how a passion can play a huge role in a person’s life. The students walked away with an understanding that there are different reasons to be passionate about something. 

– Submitted by Michelle Berg.