Burks Elementary School will offer a free summer learning camp for K-8 students to expand their skills. .
The 16-day camp includes two hours of reading and mathematics lessons, respectively, as well as a daily intervention session to help students strengthen their academic weak points. Burks Assistant Principal Diana Cook said the camp cements what students have learned over the school year while preparing them for the next grade level.
“It’s a great opportunity for all of our students across Putnam County to be able to help with preventing that summer slide when students are not at school and they’re not picking up books, they’re not doing any math for a couple months,” Cook said. “And so it gives us an opportunity to really target some of our preference priority students that might need a little bit of an extra boost.”
Cook said the academic training along with recess time and typical summer activities will help the students stay engaged academically and allow for more personal teaching opportunities.
“It’s a little bit more laid back than the typical school year and the school day within the school year,” Cook said. “And so it allows us to really have some fun with the kids in a different type of a way during the summer months, but also still look at the seriousness of what can we do to support student learning.”
Cook said students will also receive free breakfast, lunch and snacks throughout the day.
“There are unfortunately some students that when they leave — whether it’s on a snow day or if it’s over a break or an extended break like summer vacation, where they might not have access to some, you know, meals and things like that,” Cook said. “So this just provides a way that we can support families all across our district and especially up here in the Monterey community as well.”
During ELA training, Cook said students will learn the phonetic skills necessary for reading and writing.
“It gives us an opportunity to really target some of our preference priority students that might need a little bit of an extra boost,” Cook said. “And also it gives us more additional time to close achievement gaps.”
The Putnam County Words on Wheels bus from will also make an appearance, supplying school students with free books over the summer.