Wahluke School District Summer Program Shows Success

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  The Wahluke School District reported success with its DiscoverWorks summer program“The Wahluke School District experimented with a new summer learning opportunity, and it looks like a success.”
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  The Wahluke School District achieved 78% average attendance over 22 days for K-8 students“Summer is hard – it's hard to get kids here, and we averaged 78 percent attendance over the full 22 days,”
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  Program director Bethany Martinez noted the high attendance rate was 'amazing'“"Summer is hard – it's hard to get kids here, and we averaged 78 percent attendance over the full 22 days," Martinez said. "Which is amazing, especially when you think we averaged that at the elementary and the middle school – they're hard to get – and that speaks to how engaging it was."”
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  The high attendance rate was noted by Bethany Martinez given the difficulty of engaging students during summer months“Summer is hard – it's hard to get kids here, and we averaged 78 percent attendance over the full 22 days,”
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  The program combined morning academic sessions in math and reading with afternoon activities“Students worked on reading and math in the morning and spent the afternoon doing activities designed by the teachers.”
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  Afternoon activities included art, cooking, STEM projects, and sports in the programNo usable supporting receipt — unverified.
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  Wahluke Superintendent Andy Harlow said the program was structured around exploration“The program was structured around exploration, Andy Harlow said, looking at different countries and geography around the world.”
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  The program featured international cooking classes and hands-on STEM activities“The cooking classes focused on a different country each day, with the cooks making fish and chips for England and tiramisu for Italy, among others. "When Autumn worked with those teachers, she said, 'Think like a middle school kid here. What's going to be something that they don't do in a regular school year, or they can't do somewhere in Mattawa?' I think that's how they got such a wide range," Mart”
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  Teachers recruited students by emphasizing the fun aspects of the program“When we pitched it to students, we (said), "Hey, yeah, you're going to do a little bit of school, but you're going to get to hang out with your friends. You're going to get to try new things."”
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  Many students participated in activities like rocket launches and beading projects“"We tried to give them a wide range of experiences, making sure there were movement things, maybe PE or sports related, art – lots of art, because we just don't get to that enough. STEM (opportunities). I saw rockets being launched. I saw science happening." ... "We had a beauty shop," Autumn Harlow said, where students practiced hairstyling on mannequins. In the middle of the rockets launching and the bead stringing and the slime making and all the other fun things to do, lessons were sneaking in, Autumn said. She cited the beading class, where children had to count and follow directions to finish their project. "They were still learning even though they were having fun," she said.”
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  Activities like rocket launches and beading projects reinforced academic skills“She cited the beading class, where children had to count and follow directions to finish their project. "They were still learning even though they were having fun," she said.”