Hands-on fun for Yadkin students | Yadkin Ripple

In Yadkin County schools this summer, adults are carefully not uttering the words “summer school.” The program serving hundreds of students in elementary and middle schools is being referred to euphemistically as “summer learning camp.”

It doesn’t matter what the adults say, though. Kids are smart. They know the difference between school and camp.

“In summer school, you’re having fun. In regular school, you’re not having fun,” 9-year-old Anthony Benitez explained.

And his Mondays through Thursdays at West Yadkin Elementary are packed with fun, he said.

That’s because the summer program — the most comprehensive ever offered in the district — has been injected with approximately $950,000 of federal COVID-19 recovery funds intended to help students overcome potential learning impacts from the extremely non-traditional school year. The majority of funds are spent paying staff salary and benefits, as well as covering transportation to and from school for all students, providing breakfast, lunch and snacks daily and also a brand new curriculum brimming with hands-on activities to make the school days seem more like camp and less like school. The program has smaller than usual class sizes, often with just 8 to 12 students per class.

One concern about the program was whether families would be willing to send their children for nearly two months of the summer, which is traditionally a time of vacations and special events. School officials emphasized that the program was flexible and it was fine to miss a week or two for vacation or other events. At West Yadkin, 160 students signed up for summer school upon being invited. About 130 show up each day.

“We were expecting 160, so to get 130, I think that’s successful,” said Abby Salas, the West Yadkin Elementary School site coordinator for summer learning camp. During the regular school year, Salas is the principal of the Yadkin Virtual Academy.

It’s a new approach for Yadkin schools to offer such an intensive summer program for elementary and middle school students, and burnout among staff and students was definitely a concern. However, students truly are treating it as a summer camp, and many of the teachers are new in their teaching careers and happy to be getting the extra mileage in the classroom.

“The kids are excited, and that was a big piece for me personally,” Salas said.

“Summer camp” at Yadkin schools is offered at various school sites across the district in both elementary and middle schools, pulling students from several school zones. High schools continue to offer their typical “credit recovery” summer programs, but the elementary school previously only held summer reading sessions to help students who needed extra help with their reading skills. This year’s program offers math, science, reading and enrichments like art.

The West Yadkin site draws students in kindergarten through fifth-grade from Hamptonville, Boonville, Jonesville and Courtney as well as students who may live in other school zones but spend the daytime in childcare near the West Yadkin school.

On a warm afternoon last week at West Yadkin, students combined soil, sand, rocks and water in an experiment to help students learn about erosion. Students vigorously shook their containers, huge smiles peeking outside the edges of their face masks.

“If you leave it sitting, what happens?” third-grade teacher Heather Abbott asked her students.

“It’s more engaging to do this than give them a worksheet,” Abbott explained of the experiment-heavy summer session.

When small magnifying glasses were handed out to more closely examine their experiment containers, a group of boys tried to harness sunbeams with the magnifying glasses to make blades of grass smoke. Apparently the summer camp vibe was strong.

“Each week, this curriculum has a different theme. This week is erosion. It’s very hands on,” Salas said. “The math curriculum is set up with a lot of group work. Instead of tests, it’s a lot of presentations.”

In one math class, groups of three students designed their dream bedrooms. One was emblazoned at the top, “KFC Mansion.” Swimming pools, mini fridges and sofas, and a good number of queen sized beds were pointed out as students presented their projects. At the end of the KFC Mansion presentation, the teacher asked if there were any questions.

A hand went up. “Where’s the chicken?” a classmate asked, and everyone giggled, including the adults in the room.