Children are outside on the playground, playing at recess after school has closed for vacation as they are getting a JumpStart during the summer on education for the next year.
The Summer JumpStart program keeps elementary school students thinking and playing. Outdoor play is a huge part of the successful summer session at Blumfield Elementary School. Reading and math are stressed, combined with physical activity.
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Lined up along the lawn, two teams of rising second graders were excited, anticipating competition that challenged both mind and body.
Designated runners were on one end of the lawn, perched over a bucket full of water and holding a plastic measuring cup. Designated counters were on the other side, intently keeping watch over an empty bucket.
First, each team was to estimate the number of trips it would take to fill the entire bucket on the other end, using the volume of their measuring cup as a guide.
Then they were off, the runners dunking their cup full of water and running to the empty bucket, while the counters tallied the official number for their team.
This summer’s curriculum brought a strong focus on reading and math skills which students will encounter in the upcoming school year.
Throughout its three-week course, an average of 200 elementary-aged students from across the Ralston school district gathered from 8 a.m. to noon for daily summer school classes.
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It was enough time to let kids enjoy the freedom of summer afternoons, but still stimulate the summer brain waves and help avoid the notorious “summer slide” a nearly universal phenomenon which sees students regress at the beginning of a new school year.
This year at Blumfield, there were a total of 19 classes to stave off the brain drain.
Students either came by choice of their parents, or were requested to come based on data from the previous year that was used to identify students who would benefit the most from a summer school program.
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