More than 800 students participated in Summer Academy, held at various school campuses across Cherokee County over six weeks. Many of the summer academy activities focused less on remediation and more on enrichment.
“Our goal for the summer program was to preview standards and materials that they will see in the next grade to build confidence and enthusiasm about new concepts,” said Sarah Tatham, principal at Andrews Elementary School. “Watching our kids come into the school each day with a smile on their faces knowing that they are loved is worth the hard work that we put into the program. Our students have made incredible progress, and I cannot wait to see what they accomplish in the coming year.”
In addition to instruction focused on academic readiness, some students discovered engineering by building cardboard cars and learned how thermal imaging cameras are used in the military, fire department and police force. Students also attended a driver’s education class, an aviation simulation class, cooking class and a drama class.
Additionally, some students learned Spanish, world history, science, and graphic design. Students also learned the fundamentals of journalism, social media usage and how to discern “fake news” via a News Literacy Project.
Students were treated to an Atlanta Braves game and a visit to the Georgia Aquarium. Of course, summer academy wouldn’t be complete without plenty of physical activity such as basketball, soccer, swimming, cornhole, spikeball, tennis, folk dancing, bucket drumming and many more activities.
Students also heard from various guest speakers who talked about tobacco prevention, safe dating, bully prevention and resilience.