Patriot Academy
School during the summer? It probably doesn’t sound that exciting, but Patriot Academy is not the standard summer school that you’re thinking of. From July 9th to July 26th, 24 Clarkson Public School elementary students attended the Patriot Academy. The students came for the morning 8:30-11:00 and got Fridays off. During their time at school, they had one hour of reading and one hour of enrichment and hands on activities. Between those two rotations, they enjoyed a snack and had recess time.
Mr. Becker and Noah Holoubek were in charge of the enrichment time. They split the students up into two groups. The kids got to work with technology and use math skills in the wood shop.
The younger group made and edited a “Three Little Pigs” movie. “Making the pig movie was my favorite because I got to play the brick pig and I learned how to make it into a movie!” said Jacklyn Koehn. You can watch this on the Clarkson Public School Facebook page. The older group made a game on the computer and programmed it to run appropriately.
All of the students learned to operate drones. “Learning how to control the drones was my favorite part,” said Beau Baumert and Raelynn Scott. “I like challenges, and learning about drones is tricky but a fun challenge,” Chase Andrews said with a smile on his face. Ryan Steffensmeier said, “I like having to fly the drones around the trash can in the cafeteria and gym.” Jordyn Balzer shared that she likes flying the drones because it’s something she doesn’t get to do at home.
The students worked in the shop to build wooden benches as well. Two benches were made and painted. Colton Steffensmeier said that playing with his friends and woodworking was his favorite part of the academy! The kids were excited about entering both benches at the Colfax County Fair. They decided to donate the benches for the silent auction at the benefit for Suzie Beeson and Jenae Jindra.
During the reading block, teachers, Mrs. Cropp, Mrs. Greene, Mrs. Gall, Mrs. Sayers, and Mrs. Becker chose a variation of reading activities. “During our reading time, we read Maniac Magee. The book was interesting! I liked it because Maniac traveled all over town and he had hard times so he had to keep going to try to find a home that he liked,” Wyatt Crosley said. Another class is reading Where the Red Fern Grows. MaKenna Hake likes reading about how the boy never gives up to get his dogs. Teagan Baumert enjoys reading about the process of how he got the dogs as well. Ellison Koehn liked working with Mrs. Greene to learn about words. Chloe Scott said, “I like everything about the academy, I can’t choose one thing!"
Mrs. Cropp told us that the academy gives kids the opportunity to continue to learn during the summer and do other enrichment activities that they don’t get to do during the regular school year. Mr. Becker said, “We are helping students get ready for the school year and they get to do fun stuff.” Tiffiny Baumert enjoys being able to help teach and have fun with the kids. She also liked seeing the kids excited about being in school over summer. “As a parent, I see it is refreshing their academics while being able to do hands on, project-based learning activities. This ends their summer and jump-starts their school year.”