PDX Flying Squads

PDX Flying Squads are one-day-a-week self-directed community groups for youth ages 5-18.

“A city that is really concerned with the needs of its young will make the whole environment accessible to them, because, whether invited to or not, they are going to use the whole environment.” -Colin Ward, The Child in the City

PDX Flying Squads now operates through Meraki School of Democracy, and independent, self-directed school, for youth ages 5-18 in Portland OR, founded by Bria Bloom and Brooklyn Wetzel. Folks are able to sign-up for just squad through our Enrichment Program.

Wednesday Flying Squad ages 5-18. 10am-3pm. Facilitators: Bria, Brooklyn & TBD. Meeting place TBD. Please sign-up through the enrichment program at Meraki School of Democracy.

Learn more here.
Apply for the enrichment program here.

You can also email us with any questions you have, or to share your interest.

Read about our pricing options.

General Flying Squad Information:

Based in the values of Self-Directed Education, Flying Squads provide young people with time to practice making their own decisions in a nurturing community of human connections through which they can develop relationships and work on self-confidence with genuine feedback from peers and society.

Unlike school field trips, Flying Squad does not have a predetermined destination but instead practices the crucial skills of deciding together where to go and how to spend their time. Each day starts at a meeting place, documenting and reflecting on previous time together in a communal journal. The group then sets out into the world to explore common interests as a collective, experimenting on how to build community and deciding how to voice group concerns on the social justice issue of being youth in a city built for adults.

Even in the most caring of school and homeschooling co-op spaces, a definitive line is drawn on where children learn and what space and materials are and are not for them. By intentionally not using a learning space or having predetermined tools and materials, Flying Squad participants learn the important value of abolishing these distinctions as the young people involved interact with the world outside on a regular basis, carving out a space for themselves in their city. And as they do so, they learn perhaps one of life’s most important lessons: how to find self-identity while caring for and developing a community with others.

Flying Squads are perfect for unschoolers, self-directed learners, and anyone looking to deschool or engage outside the conventional system.

Our Squad focuses on learning through playfulness but also addresses concerns around social justice and youth rights. This group will be using the power of play to examine the serious issues of how society impacts them and how they can impact society. By experimenting with and testing the world through playing, exploring, and discussions, the young people involved learn a bit about themselves while exploring their city with a group of other young people.

Facilitators

Bria Bloom (she/her) grew up unschooled, and now is a passionate advocate for Self-Directed Education and children’s rights. Bria loves to work and play as an SDE facilitator, and has experience doing so from her work in free schools, alternative spaces, and her experience as a parent. She spends her time exploring questions and ideas with young people and adults, supporting young people in whatever way they need, laughing often, and marveling at all of the positive risk-taking, creative thinking, and passion that lives in self-directed communities every day. Bria is also a martial artist and a dancer, a happy Portland cyclist, and a writer. She spends a lot of her time reading and discussing education and parenting ideas with anyone who is interested.
Brooklyn Wetzel (she/they) is a high school dropout, outsider artist, sandwich caregiver and SDE facilitator. She has spent the last few decades in a variety of decolonized education spaces, working in indigenous language revitalization and self-directed education programs. She is also a co-founder of Autonomy, First Democracy Together, an umbrella organization that supports community-centered, self governance projects in Portland.