A Heroic Collaboration Between Fifth Grade and 11th Grade
November 4, 2025
In early October, Lotspeich fifth graders met with 11th graders for a cross-grade discussion about American writer Joseph Campbell’s concept of a hero’s journey.
Campbell coined the phrase “hero’s journey” to describe a universal story pattern where a hero faces challenges and achieves a victory or transformation.
According to Campbell, the hero’s journey has 12:
- Ordinary World
- Call to Adventure
- Refusal of the Call
- Meeting the Mentor
- Crossing the Threshold
- Tests, Allies, and Enemies
- Approach to the Inmost Cave
- Ordeal
- Reward (Seizing the Sword)
- The Road Back
- Resurrection
- Return with the Elixir
These stages illustrate a hero’s transformative journey as they transition from their familiar life into a realm of challenges and ultimately return, forever changed by their experiences.
“Each group had explored the stages of the hero’s journey through different novels and shared their discoveries about what makes a true hero,” said fifth grade teacher Danille Levine.
“Together, they created hero trading cards to represent key characters and exchanged letters written from a main character’s perspective, allowing them to see how heroes grow and change across different stories and reading levels. It was an inspiring exchange of ideas and creativity between our youngest and oldest readers,” fifth grade teacher Danielle Levine said.
