It’s hard to believe now that there was ever a time when “summer school” was exclusively a remedial situation, a time to play catch-up. These days it’s an opportunity that many seize to race ahead, one that presents itself in many forms at DMPS. An example we recently reported on was the inaugural Skilled Trades Summer Academy at Central Campus. Another is the annual summer camp offered through the Gifted & Advanced Learning Program (GALP). Central Campus was the GALP campground, too.
All week, 175 elementary students gathered every morning, and another 100 middle schoolers every afternoon, to flex their creative and problem-solving muscles in a stimulating variety of ways. The GALP camp culminated with a couple of showcases on Friday that demonstrated what a busy week the young inquirers put in.
District GALP consultants Jenny Schiltz (elementary) and Karen Sissel (middle school) coordinated the camps and were hard-pressed to stay a step ahead of the campers.
The elementary menu consisted of three choices. Students could opt for the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) sampler or stuff themselves with generous a la carte portions of writing and math.
Cars powered by rubber bands, marksmanship with marshmallows, the mathematics of card tricks and other “magic”: all of these and more kept the curious kids engaged – and energized.
Officially, the elementary branch’s title was Gifted Education Exploratory Experience. Gee(e), an acronym that really fits!
The theme for the older cohort was Humanities Now. Students assigned themselves to one of six task forces:
A Timeline of Art – After examining 20th century artists in their socio-cultural contexts, these 21st century apprentices produced their own works inspired by historical figures ranging from Ali to Trump.
Write Here…Write Now: Exploring Creative Writing – The library was teeming with authors, somehow batting out poems and short stories on laptops while sitting in the lotus position with pencils clamped in their teeth like cutlasses.
Dance to the Beat: The Rhythm is Going to Get You – Feet as nimble as the minds, this dance troupe turned a hallway alcove into a stage and guess what? Boys outnumbered girls!
Game Changers in Musical Theatre – In the auditorium, rehearsals resonated of a Tonys-style tunes medley from hit shows like The Lion King and Hamilton.
Respect Yourself: Music and Society – Students turned research about primary historical documents into original musical compositions.
Creative Problem Solving for Mathematical Minds – A new offering this summer, this option filled up fast. You could feel the heat in their think tank and that was only partially due to the lack of AC.
“Why can’t all school be like this?” one of the math magicians wondered on Friday morning.
Good question.