Summer Learning Academy turned out to be a treat for many

“This was a great way for kids to return to school and to feel welcomed back into the community.”

By Peter Woodbrook For Vashon Island School District • August 25, 2021 1:30 am
Jenny Granum, who directed Vashon Island School District’s new Summer Learning Academy, enthusiastically welcomed students to a wide array of classes that included “Exploring Writing through Art and Nature” for elementary students, and “Kimchi to K-Pop,” an exploration of Korean culture, food, and history, for middle and high school students (Courtesy Photo).
Jenny Granum, who directed Vashon Island School District’s new Summer Learning Academy, enthusiastically welcomed students to a wide array of classes that included “Exploring Writing through Art and Nature” for elementary students, and “Kimchi to K-Pop,” an exploration of Korean culture, food, and history, for middle and high school students (Courtesy Photo).

By Peter Woodbrook

For Vashon Island School District

For the past four weeks, the shouts and laughter of preschool and elementary school children echoed throughout the Vashon Island School District’s (VISD) campus.

The saws and the drills of Vashon Island High School’s woodshop were alive and turning. The inaugural year of VISD’s Summer Learning Academy was in session, providing free hands-on educational opportunities for about 160 students each week.

The Academy, which ran from July 26 to August 19, consisted of one-, two-, and four-week classes taught by VISD staff. The subject matter of the classes ran the gamut, from “Exploring Writing through Art and Nature” for elementary students, to “Kimchi to K-Pop,” an exploration of Korean culture, food, and history, for middle and high school students.

“For our first year out of the gate, the response has been amazing,” said the director of the Summer Learning Academy, Jenny Granum. “The students are all having so much fun, and you see it with their body language when they arrive each day.”

The summer program was made possible by the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER), established as part of the Education Stabilization Fund in the CARES Act. The ESSER Fund provided grants to address the impact that COVID-19 has had, and continues to have, on elementary and secondary schools around the nation.

“The purpose of the Summer Learning Academy was to try and provide opportunities for as many of our students to come back over the summer and reorient themselves towards the social and academic aspects of the school environment,” said VISD’s director of teaching and learning, Stephanie Spencer, who noted that roughly 25 percent of VISD students remained in a remote setting this past spring.

With those students in mind, VISD specifically opened registration first for those families to ensure that the students furthest removed from their regular educational setting had an opportunity to engage in the program. Teachers were also encouraged to think outside of the box for their classes to provide learning content that students would usually not receive during the normal school year.

Math teacher Andrew Callendar taught STEM Guitar Building, a class in which students learn the basics of woodworking while incorporating elements of design, manufacturing, and mathematics, ultimately building their own electric guitar.

“I’ve always had a passion for project-based learning, and this is a project that the kids can be proud of and take their product home,” said Callendar. “The kids are self-directing, they are fully engaged, and it is going very well.”

The Summer Learning Academy provided multiple connections and touch-points for students to get involved. Rising junior Fiona Devlin volunteered as a mentor for the young students in a class called “Art + Nature = Joyful Learning.” After fulfilling her 25-hour requirement for graduation, Fiona enjoyed the volunteer position so much she decided to stay on as a mentor for another week. While perusing the catalog, she then decided to enroll in a class during the final week.

“I saw [that] Becky Blankenship [was] teaching ‘Kimichi to K-Pop,’ Devlin said. “I don’t know much about Korean culture but I am interested in it — I also had Becky in middle school and she is one of my favorite teachers ever, so I signed up for the course.”

Ultimately, almost everyone involved in the Summer Learning Academy’s first run considers it successful, despite the expected bumps, changes, and any other challenge that arose. Granum notes many parents mentioned the Academy as a great transition for their children who didn’t return to in-person learning in the spring.

“This was a great way for kids to return to school and to feel welcomed back into the community,” said Granum. “That is the important part: To have the kids feeling connected and having fun because they have missed that for so many months.”