Last Updated: Wednesday, July 9, 2008 3:28 PM CDT
News : Laona summer school program takes a hands-on approach
Vern Hollister - Correspondent
Laona's elementary summer school program adopted a different method from past years in an effort to stimulate the learning experience by providing a hands-on approach.
"We weren't crazy about end results," Laona administrator Dave Aslyn said, "and we asked, 'What can we do to make this more enjoyable?' In elementary school, what we decided is to come at it from an academic enrichment program rather than remedial."
The 48 enrollees, with students entering first through sixth grade in the fall jumped in and got mud on their boots and bugs in their nets. Along with teachers Ahren Crotty and Shelly Chitko, assistant Bobbie Calhoun and teacher's aide Alicia Trottier, students learned under the umbrella enrichment theme of "Explorations."
Instead of being told about water and streams, future third and fourth graders visited the Laona School Forest wearing their boots and carrying along nets.
On the banks of the forest creek, they "scooped muck out of the stream beds." They identified butterfly larvae, gathered pine cones and flowers and cattail fuzz. When they returned to the classroom, the children created "nature soap."
The students quickly identified the material within their individual soaps. One included cattail fluff, another bits of leaves and flowers. A boy chose to add "bark and a rock" to his soap bar. Others added grass and bark, lichens, pine cones, a grass and flower combination to their glycerin based soap.
Crotty said they observed a big snapping turtle "completely submerged" and a deer. "We're not doing a kill and drill," Crotty said. "It's more exploratory. They enjoy it. It's got a lot of movement."
In searching for ways to alter the scheme of the summer school experience, the teachers and Aslyn settled on the Explorations theme and looked for methods to experience, mostly nature-based. Other than rivers and ponds in the school forest, some visited the Florence Nature Center or traveled to Trees for Tomorrow, the theme for one group, "reptiles and amphibians." Monday morning, third and fourth graders to be, found spots to watch "The Wilderness Family" video.
Chitko divided her lessons into "Exploring the Community," "Exploring Wisconsin" and "Exploring the World." One day, Chitko and her charges checked out Laona's bank, the post office, the grocery store and Precision Fabricating. Another day, they studied "from farm to family" and the food chain. Since many Laona area parents have jobs tied to the wood industry, they learned about logging and wood and wood products.
On their trip to Eagle River and Trees for Tomorrow, they concentrated on birds and Animals of Wisconsin. Last week they charted Wisconsin's state bird, state tree, state animal and state fossil. If you don't know the state fossil, check with a Laona first or second grader. They also made plaster casts of footprints and identified types of birds' beaks, one a tweezer, one a pliers and one a strainer.
"We have a greater attendance," Chitko said, "because it's all exploring and enrichment. Before, it was remedial."
In an enclosed area but outside in the heat, teacher Mary Neilitz and three junior high students worked to landscape the courtyard. Not all of the spot receives full sunlight, and Neilitz and her summer students planted shade-tolerant hostas, among other choices for shade. One student worked a tiller, and stacks of removed patio bricks stood near an outer classroom wall.
"We weren't crazy about our end results for credit recovery," Neilitz said, "and we asked what we could do to make this more enjoyable." She also said students needed to have the "Why?" answers.
Many plants came from her own garden, and some they received through donations from local gardeners. They planted iris, primroses, menarda, phlox, hydrangeas. They also brought geraniums from the school's greenhouse out for the summer. They'll be returned for wintering. In a hall near the courtyard sat recently constructed benches to be placed in the area.
Wednesday, the final day, was carnival day and summer school's exploratory conclusion. In the back of Chitko's classroom, three or four students who'd learned about habitat and putting themselves in the place of a deer, for example, were collecting supplies and constructing games. Their final task was to plan what to do at the carnival.
Once summer school ends, and now without conflict and overlapping, kids can jump right into the Park and Recreation activities. Aslyn said they adjusted the school's schedule so that kids can participate in both without having to choose one or the other.
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