Summer Learning Is Fun STUDENTS ENJOY HANDS-ON EDUCATION PROGRAM
Summer school is fun and offers students enrichment to keep them sharp for the coming school year, according to Tonya Cox of White Rock School.
Cox is principal of White Rock, where both White Rock and Pineville students attend summer school. About 340 are enrolled, which equals about 65 to 70% of the total number of students for both schools, she said.
“It’s a lot of fun. It allows kids to be very creative,” she said of summer school. “It’s called Summer Journey. It provides over 60 hours of academics for students. It really lets them review and apply what they’ve already learned and prepare for the upcoming school year. All the academic courses focus on hands-on instruction for reading, language arts, math, social studies and science. It’s a really relaxed format. There’s not any homework. There are not any tests. In the morning hours, they focus on academic subjects, and in the afternoon there’s more hands-on exploration and discovery. They have a rocket class where they learn the basics of flight and make their own rockets and test them. They do simple machines camp, engineering, lifetime fitness, video production, tech lab, survivor camp, claymation and yogacize.”
Cox said students who do not miss any days during summer school are eligible for a $100 Visa gift card. If they miss one day, they are eligible for a $75 gift card, and if they miss two days, they are eligible for a $50 gift card.
She said the school district has
a grant to provide breakfast and lunch each day. People 18 and younger may stop by the school and eat for free, she said. She also noted any child can enroll in summer school, even those from outside the district.
Every day students are eligible to win prizes, Cox said. Monday through Thursday, the school draws for three $10 Walmart gift cards; and on Friday it draws for three $50 gift cards. On the last day of summer school, it draws for two iPads. The incentives are based on good attitudes and being kind, she said.
Summer school is from 7:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and runs May 29 through June 28.
“Research shows that in the summer when kids are not exposed to reading and academics, that they do fall back in their learning,” Cox said. “We want to keep them engaged in their learning. We also want to be able to provide them with breakfast and lunch in the month of June, and that helps our families too.”
As for what the students say about it, “They love summer school,” Cox said. “They have a good time. The White Rock kids don’t get to see the Pineville kids very often, so they look forward to those friendships. And they love the money and the prizes. They are also in the grade they will be in during the next year, so that gives them an extra boost for the next year.”
Beverly Jackson, who is in her second year of teaching summer school at White Rock, was leading her class in an outdoor game with flying discs.
“It’s different. It makes it fun. It’s a different atmosphere,” she said of summer school.
Jackson normally teaches second grade at Pineville Primary but, during the month of June, she is teaching fourth and fifth grade at White Rock.
“I think they enjoy it,” she said of the students. “It’s a lot more active. We get with our curriculum huge boxes and tons of manipulatives. It’s very interactive and the kids love that.”
Assistant Superintendent Angie Brewer said, “We are happy that we can partner with Catapult Learning to offer summer school classes to our students during the month of June. It is a service to our working families and a fun, safe place for our students.”