By Pauline Liu
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August 03. 2015 8:56PM
Wallkill summer school program uses new approach to combine fun, learning
WALLKILL ­ To any casual onlooker, the group of teens gathered outside Wallkill High School with shovels on
Wednesday looked as though they were just digging a ditch.
No big deal. But the 40 middle school students were actually engaged in a hands­on approach that seems to have
revolutionized summer learning in the Wallkill district.
The new approach, known as “project­based learning,” will likely be carried over into the school year.
The ditch­digging kids were on a mission.
Their summer project is to transform the school’s under­utilized grassy courtyard into a park with a fountain, stone
Jada Falu and Kimberly Diaz do research
path, gazebo and park bench.
on an iPad at the Summer Learning
They created layouts and designs using a computer program. They created a 3­D model and researched materials costs; Academy. ALLYSE PULLIAM/For the
Times Herald­Record
the district budgeted $500 for materials. The teen landscapers, designers and engineers expect to come in under
budget.
“It’s about creating something better for our school, and it’s a lot of fun,” said Mathew Barach, 14.
Fun?
It’s not a word usually associated with school. In trying something new, the district's efforts have apparently paid off.
“Some people don’t want to be studying books, because it’s boring. Here, we’re learning and we’re still having fun,” said Samantha Gaston, 12.
Gaston, who will be entering eighth grade this fall, was working on creating an app for incoming seventh graders, so they “won’t freak out or get lost,” as she did
when she first moved up from elementary school.
Students are still learning math and reading, but “it’s woven in, so that the kids didn’t even know they were doing it, and it was fun for them,” said Monica
Hasbrouck, who served as principal of the district’s Summer Learning Academy for 177 kids in grades K­6.
To carry out the new programs, teachers had to learn to teach in a new way. Seventeen elementary and middle school teachers received two days of training
through Ulster BOCES. According to Hasbrouck, they loved it.
The elementary summer program wrapped up recently. Among its highlights, sixth graders became interior designers as they used computer­aided drafting, or
CAD, programs to create virtual fantasy bedrooms. Incoming first graders learned how to make iPad movies.
By problem­solving in teams, the kids are learning about skills needed in the workplace, said Nick Pantaleone, principal of the middle and high school summer
programs.
“The lack of disciplinary problems, and the enthusiasm of the students indicates this new approach has been a success,” he added.
http://www.recordonline.com/article/20150803/NEWS/150809843
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