from todays bcct:
Kids keep sharp over the summer
By: MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
A free summer program allows students to reinforce their math and English skills, let loose on athletic fields and flex their creativity in special projects.
About 20 kids thought hard about how many eggs could be put in an empty basket.
After much animated discussion, they started shouting out guesses. Teacher Ashley Campellone smiled widely as she gave them the answer.
"Only one. After that, it's not empty anymore!" she said as the kids groaned and laughed at her joke.
Divided into teams they named Dark Star, Bubbalicious, Donkey Banana Kong and The Cupcakes, the students worked on logic puzzles as part of a non-traditional math class.
About 75 Morrisville students have gathered at Grandview Elementary School weekdays for the last five weeks to reinforce their math and English skills through classroom lessons, let loose on athletic fields and flex their creativity in special projects.
Today is the last day of the program and the kids said they couldn't be more satisfied with going to school in the summer.
"I've had a really fun time. I'd recommend going here rather than staying at home all day," said Ryan Kearton, 9.
The Academic Sports Achievement Program camp, now in its fourth year, is financed by federal funds through the district's 21st Century Grant Community Learning Centers.
"It's awesome; we go on good trips and there's nice food, too. The teachers are good and the coaches are very patient," said Amanda McCourtie, 12.
She said she likes working with kids of different ages during a variety of activities. "It helps you make friends. You can help out the younger kids and the older kids can help you," Amanda said.
Each day starts with breakfast. About a dozen teachers and coaches guide fifth- through 12th-graders through two hours of sports, including soccer, volleyball, basketball, softball and flag football. The students then have a short break, followed by two hours of math and English.
They also participate in a project period about once a week. Some kids created and acted out a play, learning public speaking skills in the process. Last year, they made commercials and did a magic show, said camp coordinator Norma Wingate. The day ends with a free lunch.
Wingate got the idea for the camp from her years working with Temple University's National Youth Sports program, another summer camp.
"The staff has been really faithful year to year. That makes it easier for the kids, too," said Wingate, who's also an athletic trainer and the dean of student affairs at the borough's high school.
The Morrisville program is different from a regular school day in a few ways.
For one thing, students of different ages and grades work with each other in team-based activities. For another, there's no homework, though kids are tested at the beginning and end of the month-long camp to gauge their progress.
"Teachers try to keep them engaged and motivated," Wingate said. "We ask the kids to make a commitment to doing well."
Field trips are a part of the summer program, too. This week, the kids went to Dorney Park. They've also attended a Trenton Thunder baseball game and visited the Herr's potato chip factory in Chester County.
The district holds a similar camp for students entering kindergarten through fourth grades, as well as a tutoring camp to bolster children's academic abilities. It also partners with Actors' NET of Bucks County for theater camp.
Megan Johnson, a former student in the academic/sports camp, enjoyed her experience so much the 17-year-old came back to help coach softball. "You get to teach kids how to do new things. It's cool to see kids look up to you and listen when you ask them to do something," she said.
In teacher Melissa Mahoney's English classroom, kids decorated the back wall with their personalized versions of fairy tales. They had to experiment with starting their sentences in as many different ways as they could for the stories.
Coach Seth Feit, a health and physical education teacher from John Paul Jones Middle School in Philadelphia, coaches flag football at the camp and helped Mahoney in the classroom.
"(Wingate) does a phenomenal job of keeping them on track academically, and also with fun," he said. "This free camp is great for the community. We just keep growing."
