By Nick Yates, ISB Communications
“Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to silently make your way through an obstacle course in the dark in Gym 4. We have chosen your teams for you. The ‘Agents’ must negotiate the course without being detected, the ‘Guards’ must identify any noises or mistakes made by the Agents. As always, should you or any member of your team be caught, the principal will disavow all knowledge of your actions. This message will self-destruct in five seconds.”
Borrowing from the famous spy movies and TV series, these could have been the instructions given to International School of Beijing (ISB) students as they took part in Mission: Impossible over the past week and half. A highlight of the Upper Elementary School calendar every year, this fun PE project provides a physical and mental challenge for action movie stars in Grades 3 to 5. They must have the dexterity to leap, climb, and wriggle through the course. They also need to understand the rules, practice communication, and be fair when sending Agents back to the start.
ISB intel shows students should be healthy in body and mind if their learning is to be at its best. ISB’s philosophy on social and emotional learning is published on the school website, so it’s far from top secret. The ISB campus has world-class sports facilities, and they’re filled with ladders, crash mats, zip wires and all kinds of other stunt equipment for this exercise.
Check out these photos covertly taken while students were practicing for Mission: Impossible with the lights on.