Approximately 35 Weir Elementary School students were treated to a graduation ceremony this past Thursday morning, as their summer STEM/Literacy program came to an end.
Principal Robbie Denson stated that the program went very well. This being their first year to present the program, they began small but learned a lot that they hope to build on, not only during the summer, but during the school year as well.
This year’s program integrated STEM (science, technology, engineering & mathematics) with literacy. According to Denson, “STEM is very important to today’s students because all of our jobs are science-based, technology-based, engineering and math-based, and if they have those skills, they can go wherever they want to go. And that’s what we wanted to show our students, that there is so much out there and we wanted to pique their interest.”
According to program director Julie Chase, the literacy side of the program was just as important. The teachers worked very hard to improve the students reading, vocabulary and comprehension skills. Chase stated that literacy is fundamental because if a child cannot read and comprehend, he cannot hope to be successful in other areas such as math and science.
Chase oversaw the STEM room where students worked on projects such as robots, circuit boards, problem solving and more. Valarie Lampkin was in charge of the reading room where she read to the students and gave them an opportunity to work on their skills. The FAME (food, art, music & education) room was under the direction of Rachel Kirk, and Sarah Bowles taught Code.org.
Many of the students who were reluctant at the beginning were disappointed to see the program come to an end. The program was a learning process for the students and teachers as well.
A large group of family members gathered to see the youth receive their Certificates of Graduation, followed by cake and soft drinks.
Denson stated that based on the success of this year’s program they do intend to follow up with a program next summer, and since this was the first year the staff learned a lot of things that can be used as building blocks for future programs.
