WESTFIELD – Westfield Public Schools are running two Title I programs this summer at Highland Elementary and South Middle School. These two “Cadillac” programs are highly ranked by children, parents, and staff, according to Christopher Rogers, administrator of student interventions who is overseeing both programs.
Kayaking is part of the Westfield Public Schools Summer EDventure experience. (Submitted photo)
The Summer EDventure at Highland Elementary under site supervisor Kandy Kocol runs from July 5 through August 3, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. In partnership with the Connected Learning Afterschool and Summer Partnership (CLASP) and the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, it is designed to engage K-6 students with outdoor activities, cooperative games, sports, art projects, guest speakers, field trips and scientific experiments.
Literacy, math, science and writing are integrated throughout the program to support project –based learning. Incoming students in grades K-4 participate in a nature and fitness curricula and incoming grade 5 and 6 students participate in the ecosystem/service learning and fitness curricula.
270 students, a record in terms of enrollment are participating in the free program. The students were recommended by their schools as needing some additional support to improve their literacy and essential learning skills, and include students from the English Language Learners (ELL) program. Transportation to the program is free for students that need it, as are lunches through a Food Services grant.
This year, in collaboration with the special education department and its summer program, the district added two elementary special education classes to create an even more inclusive program where the students work and learn alongside their grade level peers. Rogers said the students are almost fully integrated into the program. “We are really excited about it,” he said, adding that it is part of a push across the district to become more inclusive.
The program is also partnering with the YMCA’s Camp Shepard and each grade level attends one field trip there. Field trips are also planned to Stanley Park, Littleville Dam in Huntington, and the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst.
UMASS students demonstrated bird banding at the Highland program last week. (Submitted photo)
On Monday, July 10, a Bird Banding group from UMASS did a live presentation for the whole school.
Rogers said the program is not mandatory but is offered to students who the school feels should be there, and for parents and students want to be there.
A second Outdoor EDventure program is being held during the same weeks from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m at South Middle School under the supervision of 7th grade science teacher Kate Palmer.
“With a full 60 kids in the program, we are exploring water, our most precious resource,” Palmer said. She said the service learning program involves students in creating a project that they believe will positively impact the community, while learning valuable skills in science, literacy, and technology. “The students are able to create something that is meaningful to them, helping them to really own the project and showing them that they truly can impact their own community for the better,” she added.
Palmer said the students took a trip to Noble View in Russell, where the Appalachian Mountain Club came to do an introduction to water pollution, and students learned how to test the water’s pH levels. Back on site at South Middle, they have been reading and learning about the amount of clean, drinkable water on the planet and the growing demand for such a valuable resource. They have also been doing experiments where students learn the properties of water and have continued testing different liquids to further understand the pH scale.
“We are very lucky to have Little River behind the school where students are able to test the water over the course of multiple weeks and track changes in the water. They are then able to think about different factors and assess why these changes are happening,” Palmer said.
In the next few weeks of the program, students will be determining how they can positively impact Westfield by tackling an aspect of water pollution as a part of their service learning project. Students have begun talking about topics such as: keeping the Westfield River clean, awareness about the problems with non-reusable plastic water bottles, and educating the community about the scarcity of fresh water worldwide and how to conserve it.
Teambuilding activites at the South Middle School Outdoor EDventure program. (Submitted photo)
“Mixed throughout each day, we also come together as a large group for teambuilding activities and we spend some time journaling reflections about our day,” Palmer said.
She said future field trips will include fishing at Chicopee State Park with Jim Lagacy from the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Wildlife, and canoeing, kayaking, and swimming at Camp Moses.
“We have a wonderful staff with diverse qualities to bring to the table. We are very excited to see what projects these great students develop to help their community,” Palmer said.
Rogers said that Andrea Allard, CEO of the YMCA of Greater Westfield provided professional development and training at Camp Shepherd for participating staff members of both programs, which include teachers, paraprofessionals, literary assistants, site coordinators and nurses.
He said support was also provided by Kellie Brown of the Boys and Girls Club, the Westfield Technical Academy’s Graphic Arts department for assisting with brochures, signage and t-shirts, and the Horticulture department for beautifying the grounds of Highland School for the program.
Rogers also gives credit to his predecessor Dr. Jennifer Alexander, who started the Summer EDventure programs with the Regional Employment Board several years ago. “This year, we took it to another level in terms of service learning,” he said.
