4 new courses + 4 new teachers = more fun!

Summer School 2016

Surina (6), Grace (6), Ms. Shull, advisor, and

Robot throwing a football (a.k.a a ping pong) to make a goal.
Photo: Summer School Staff
Robot throwing a football (a.k.a. a ping pong) to make a goal.

Summer School 2016 has started and there are four new courses and three teachers who are new to summer school.

In the first week, seven students took Brain Bowl and six students took Robotics, both new courses taught by teachers who haven’t taught at summer school before.

Mr. Baker, the teacher for Robotics, said the reason he wanted to teach Robotics was because, “it can be fun and students can learn a lot. This is programming, but with robotics you see what happens, and you get immediate feedback from the robot on whether your program works or not. With robotics you have a combination of building, programming, and experimenting with new solutions.”

Middle School students laughing in a round of Brain Bowl.
Photo: Summer School Staff
Middle School students laughing in a round of Brain Bowl.

Mr. Gray, the Brain Bowl teacher, said, “Brain Bowl is a combination of learning and accuracy with some prior knowledge. But the utmost important thing is to remember what you have learnt.”

Simply scientific fun with Oobleck.
Photo: Summer School Staff
Simply scientific fun with Oobleck.

In the second week of Summer School, 14 students took Simply Science taught by Mrs. Mayhew, who is new to Sacred Heart and will be joining the ISSH Math department in August 2016. Mrs. Mayhew said she teaches Simply Science because she likes doing fun experiments at home with simple items. Olivia, a third grade student, said that she liked making slime in Simply Science, and another third grader, Emi, said that she liked making lip balm.

Ready, set, go Sports Medley!
Photo: Summer School Staff
Ready, set, go Sports Medley!

For both weeks, 15 students took Sports Medley, a new course taught by Mr. Cervantes, ISSH’s basketball coach. Coach Cervantes said that Sports Medley is important for the students because it “provides the students with a variety of games and sports. They can compete individually and as a team while having fun.”

Mr. Nicholson and Ms. Spentzos, Summer School Coordinators in 2015 and 2016, change the summer school programs and courses each year because they want make sure that students have a chance to learn something new. Mr. Nicholson said, “Creating the summer programs is like creating a menu. We want to make sure that a part of the program appeals to the parents and a part of the program appeals to the students, to make sure that everyone enjoys it.”