http://examiner-enterprise.com/news/local-news/summer-camp-smooths-move-middle-school
I have copied the text here in case you cannot access the link:
With a goal to smooth the transition from elementary school to middle school, Bartlesville sixth-grade students from Central Middle School and Madison Middle School had the opportunity to enroll in a unique summer camp, presented by Bartlesville Education Promise.
The first round of the weeklong camp started Monday at the Madison building. Two additional transition camps will occur in the following weeks.
Morgan Axsom, a teacher at Madison, is helping with the summer camp experience. She said the program so far has been a huge success.
“We are so thankful for the support from Bartlesville Education Promise to help make this possible,” Axsom said. “We have a unique opportunity this year to really bridge the gap between a student coming from elementary schools to the much-larger middle school facilities. We hope the activities we have been doing will make that transition easier and a bit less scary for these kids.”
While Central Middle School’s building is under renovation this summer, both schools have joined together for this summer camp. The students meet together in the morning for breakfast, and then go to separate areas of the Madison building to build the teams for each individual school.
Axsom said the students come back together in the afternoon for lunch, prior to going home for the day. Some other activities are joint between the two schools as well.
“Today (Wednesday), we are going on a joint field trip to Tri County Tech to learn about all the science activities they have there and the fitness facilities,” Axsom said. “We like doing the things together to bring the two middle schools together because we feel that will only enhance their experience, especially when they get to the ninth grade and will be coming together at the high school.”
Axsom said the students have been on scavenger hunts throughout the Madison building to help the kids get acclimated to a much larger building. Other activities include learning geography through sidewalk chalk art, calming skills by learning yoga, learning history through cooking and going on hikes.
“All of this is not only to learn, but to also build a team,” Axsom said. “One of the biggest fears that our students have is being in a much larger school and having so many strangers around. We even have an activity for the students to learn how to use a locker. Believe it or not, that is one of the largest concerns students have — how to use a locker. We are using this time to make that less scary.”
The transition summer camps are part of a series of summer programs for Bartlesville Public School students to help them be more successful. Bartlesville Education Promise was founded to to guide the community towards assuming greater ownership for improving educational outcomes for all students in Bartlesville schools, chairman Martin Garber said.
Bartlesville Education Promise is a nonprofit corporation managed by 11 civic leaders, with focuses on improving graduation rates and readiness for higher education, technical school or full-time employment.
The first round of the weeklong camp started Monday at the Madison building. Two additional transition camps will occur in the following weeks.
Morgan Axsom, a teacher at Madison, is helping with the summer camp experience. She said the program so far has been a huge success.
“We are so thankful for the support from Bartlesville Education Promise to help make this possible,” Axsom said. “We have a unique opportunity this year to really bridge the gap between a student coming from elementary schools to the much-larger middle school facilities. We hope the activities we have been doing will make that transition easier and a bit less scary for these kids.”
While Central Middle School’s building is under renovation this summer, both schools have joined together for this summer camp. The students meet together in the morning for breakfast, and then go to separate areas of the Madison building to build the teams for each individual school.
Axsom said the students come back together in the afternoon for lunch, prior to going home for the day. Some other activities are joint between the two schools as well.
“Today (Wednesday), we are going on a joint field trip to Tri County Tech to learn about all the science activities they have there and the fitness facilities,” Axsom said. “We like doing the things together to bring the two middle schools together because we feel that will only enhance their experience, especially when they get to the ninth grade and will be coming together at the high school.”
Axsom said the students have been on scavenger hunts throughout the Madison building to help the kids get acclimated to a much larger building. Other activities include learning geography through sidewalk chalk art, calming skills by learning yoga, learning history through cooking and going on hikes.
“All of this is not only to learn, but to also build a team,” Axsom said. “One of the biggest fears that our students have is being in a much larger school and having so many strangers around. We even have an activity for the students to learn how to use a locker. Believe it or not, that is one of the largest concerns students have — how to use a locker. We are using this time to make that less scary.”
The transition summer camps are part of a series of summer programs for Bartlesville Public School students to help them be more successful. Bartlesville Education Promise was founded to to guide the community towards assuming greater ownership for improving educational outcomes for all students in Bartlesville schools, chairman Martin Garber said.
Bartlesville Education Promise is a nonprofit corporation managed by 11 civic leaders, with focuses on improving graduation rates and readiness for higher education, technical school or full-time employment.
Congratulations Zach. "Everybody is famous in a small town." When I worked at a high school, I was always amazed at the number of students who forgot their locker combination over Christmas vacation!
ReplyDeleteWell done Bartlesville and a Stand-Out pix in the newspaper. Zachary, enjoy all the transition days. Only the Best.
ReplyDelete