An idea born at the 6th grade retreat has grown. Into a turnip. The Dirpy Turnip. He’s the mascot and namesake for a grassroots organization created by a 6th grader who inspired several 6th and 7th graders to join in the cause. The group meets outside of class time during breaks and lunches to turn this idea into reality, with the help of Jennifer who is their faculty adviser.

Dirpy Turnip is an organization that sells trading cards in hand-made paper boxes, ranging in size, cost, and rarity – from “common” to “ultra mega rare.” Students can buy and trade boxes cards (think Pokemon). Dirpy isn’t the only turnip in the group – he has a host of turnip character friends. Everyone on the team, currently 11 students and growing, has a specialization, such as CEO, Designer, and Holiday Man. As the project grows, so do the possibilities. Already they’ve created special Holiday edition turnips (Ghosts and Pumpkins for Halloween and chile peppers for Cinco de Mayo), a comic, and a lego mascot. There’s even talk of a board or card game.

Behind the funny name and action figures are two things these students care a lot about: activism and philanthropy. From the beginning, their goal was to raise money for a cause. “There’s a lot of people who have cancer these days and it’s really hard,” said the Dirpy Turnip CEO, “We want to help.” They are currently in the process of researching cancer care organizations, taking the time to make an informed decision by inclusive process before committing their hard-earned funds.

Dirpy Turnip tells us a lot about this age: middle schoolers love silly, being with peers, and thinking big. They als

o want to connect all that to something bigger than themselves and they are using new skills and knowledge to make that happen, like collaboration and project management. At Hyla, we encourage this creativity and independence by making space for it and by answering the call when students approach teachers for support. As the faculty advisor and also treasurer, Jennifer invited the Derpy Turnip to set up headquarters in the Humanities room. Jeff also joined the production effort when students approached him for help creating turnip characters on the new laser cutter.

This is the turnip-shaped version of a long-standing Hyla tradition: the organic growth of student initiative that voices up, takes shape, and takes off with faculty support. For years and years, Hyla kids have united in shared interests, worked together to create something, and invited people into the process as it grows. Sometimes this looks like a ping pong tournament. Sometimes it looks like a brand new elective co-led by a student. Right now it looks like a cute little turnip.