With school out for the summer, the Little Rock School District is continuing to provide opportunities for students to learn.
One such program took place at David O. Dodd Elementary, where the district’s Summer Enrichment Program held its closing ceremony Friday.
Now completing its third year, the seven day camp utilizes critical thinking and problem solving for third through fifth graders who are proficient or advanced in math and literacy.
This year the theme focused on the study of Native Americans found in Arkansas.
The students learn in several different subjects throughout the day.
“At 9:00 we begin rotations. Everybody has a home room teacher, and this year it would have been a tribal leader, and they would begin in different places. Some would begin in computer and some would begin in drama, and so every 45 minutes they rotated to a different section,” said Jennifer Welborn, one of the camp coordinators.
The program was started two years ago in an effort to work with gifted and talented students, who are nominated by their teachers and then selected for the camp.
Originally just for students of Dodd Elementary, the program has expanded to seventy five students.
Welborn says students became absorbed in the week-long camp and its theme.
“They kind of come with expectations, they’re excited about it, and the minute they walk in that door they are immersed in whatever it is we’re doing. We’re all dressed up, we have the outfits to wear everyday, it’s almost like they take on a different persona. And when they come, they get in that mode, like this year with the drum beat, we’re lining up for pow-wow. It just gets more exciting as they go along, they’re just more and more into it.”
The students’ final activity with the program took place at 11:00 this morning, with their performance of “Who Will be the Sun,” a play showcasing their new knowledge on the Native Americans of Arkansas.