GERING, Neb. (AP) - Around 180 students are spending part of their summer getting a jump on the upcoming school year through the Gering school district’s extended learning opportunity program.
The elementary month-long program wrapped up the year on June 20 with two short plays from students in the migrant school summer program and from the sixth graders, the Scottsbluff Star-Herald (https://bit.ly/2srueOu ) reported.
Geil special education instructor Pam Engstrom spent the month with the kindergartners at Lincoln Elementary with an average of 16 students.
“Our goal is to keep the kids’ skills fresh in their minds over the summer,” she said. “We review some of the skills they learned the previous school year but maybe just need a little more practice. And the program keeps a lot of kids from being retained.”
Engstrom said that even though it’s summer, her students are ready to learn. Six of them have missed only one day or had perfect attendance.
“We keep it exciting and involve a lot of technology,” she said. “We’ve reviewed the alphabet, grammar and have done a lot of reading together.”
Engstrom has 18 years of teaching experience and said summer school wasn’t offered when she started. Consequently, there was more retention of students.
“We’re trying not to retain students now,” she said. “If we keep them busy for the summer, the kids can succeed.”
Carolyn Thomas, who teaches fourth grade, said the summer program is an extended learning opportunity where students can experience different extracurricular activities that teachers sometimes don’t have time for during the school year.
“We did some art classes this summer, along with reading and math programs,” Thomas said. “We talk about literature and get into the background of the stories and the authors. It’s a more relaxed environment that gives the kids a head start on the next year.”
Although she’s a French teacher, Thomas has been substituting for 17 years at the elementary level at Gering, Scottsbluff, Minatare, Morrill, Banner County and Mitchell. But most of her time has been in the Gering district.
“Gering is where I prefer to be,” she said. “I like their curriculum, administration and facilities.”
When the extended learning opportunity program moves up to the high school level, most of the learning is done online at the school with teacher supervision.
“We’re here to help kids stay on track toward graduation,” said Gering High School Principal Eldon Hubbard. “Some of them may have a few credits to make up. This frees up their schedule so they’re not taking extra classes during the year. It gives them a little elbow room. Also, there are fewer distractions during the summer.”
Because the coursework is on the district’s Odysseyware learning system, students can take a wide variety of courses. Hubbard said it’s good to see the kids in a different, and more relaxed, setting. Because the program is so personalized, it’s easy to work with them.
“The summer program is directed and the kids have definite goals while they’re here,” he said. “They can earn up to 10 credits toward graduation over the month-long summer program.”
Another advantage of the summer program is flexibility. Studies can be arranged around work schedules for students who have summer jobs.
Jennifer Bohnsack teaches kindergarten at Geil Elementary. When she heard about the summer program at the high school, she decided to apply.
“I usually teach elementary summer school, so I thought this would be something different,” she said. “I really enjoy getting to know new kids. The goal is to help them recover some of the credits where they’re behind. That allows them to graduate with the rest of their class.”
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Information from: Star-Herald, https://www.starherald.com
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