Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

EDITORIAL:

Learning can be fun, as Southern Nevada teachers and students can attest this summer

Thurman White Academy Summer Session

Wade Vandervort

Peyton Davidson, 13, attends stage combat class during summer session at Thurman White Academy of the Performing Arts in Henderson Wednesday, June 9, 2021.

A sense of wonder and discovery is flowering in public schools across the Las Vegas Valley thanks to an innovative new form of summer school developed by the Clark County School District.

The new approach is sort of like a summer camp, offering students opportunities to explore a wide variety of fun activities and academic subjects. It’s known as the Summer Acceleration program and, as reported by the Sun’s Ray Brewer this past Sunday, it appears to be a hit among students and teachers alike.

For students, it’s a chance to learn to play musical instruments, craft woodworking projects, discover archery, build robots, design snowboards and perform stage combat, to name a few of the many courses being offered. And as you can tell by some of the course subjects, the program offers teachers a chance to exercise their creativity and draw on their own interests to come up with activities that would appeal to students.

At one school, you might see kids staging a “Star Wars” lightsaber duel with their principal. In another, you could come across students using remote controls to steer robots they assembled themselves through an obstacle course. In another, you could find students helping with beautification projects or designing bulletin boards as part of a community service elective.

In education-speak, this approach is known as project-based learning, which focuses on collaboration and introductions to experiences as opposed to traditional book-based lessons.

“There are no grades. Just come and have fun,” said Andrea Katona, principal of the Thurman White Academy of the Performing Arts, in the Sun’s feature story.

In Brewer’s reporting, he found schools full of kids doing just that.

“This is probably the most fun (I’ve had) in some time,” one student told him. “I’m the type of person that likes to be around other people to be happy.”

Bravo to CCSD for developing this program, which has brought hundreds of students back to schools after months of isolation and remote learning. Our students needed social-emotional time together, and this was a perfect way to provide it to them.

Meanwhile, CCSD is providing traditional summer-school curriculum to students who need additional instruction to stay on a steady trajectory toward graduation or want to accelerate their learning and graduate early.

The Summer Acceleration program is funded by federal coronavirus relief money, which was available on a one-time only basis. But we’d wholeheartedly encourage CCSD to offer it again if the future funding can possibly be found.

It’s providing students with a safe environment to reconnect with classmates, make new friendships and stretch themselves by learning new skills and activities. No doubt, many of these students will go into next semester feeling very good about themselves, their teachers and their schools, and will be energized to learn.

The impact on teachers is just as profound. In a recent interview with the Sun, CCSD special education teacher Juliana Urtubey cited the program when asked what could be done to improve recruitment and retention of teachers in the valley. Urtubey, the first Nevada teacher to be named National Teacher of the Year, mentioned a friend who is teaching a hip-hop/rock music course in which students craft their own songs.

“She told me last night this is the happiest she’s ever been as a teacher,” Utrubey said, adding that providing teachers with these kinds of opportunities would reduce burnout.

The bottom line is there’s time and a need for traditional instruction, and students will get it. But finding more innovative ways to make school a fun, collaborative environment for them and their teachers — while learning something too — will benefit their development.

CCSD appears to have really caught onto something with the Summer Acceleration program. Here’s hoping it can return next year and for many more to come.