JoElla Smyth is excited about summer school this year. Besides the traditional summer school offerings, Warsaw Community Schools is piloting an enrichment program in July that Smyth, summer school coordinator for WCS, said will be a “cool thing.” During the second summer school session, the Summer of Success Enrichment Program will be held at Edgewood Middle School. There will “camps” for students from first to eighth grade. “I’m not aware of anyone else doing anything like this,” Smyth said during an interview Monday afternoon. Warsaw Schools also has never offered any summer school before for students in first through eighth grade during the second session. The enrichment program will be the first time. “We’re trying some new things,” Smyth said. There will be three sessions, with 10 different camps offered during each week. Each camp will be about 25 hours. The first session will be July 11-15, with the second session July 18-22 and the third July 25-29. Camps will be in session from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Each week-long camp is $100 per child. The fee includes transportation to and from Edgewood, breakfast and lunch. Scholarships will be available for qualifying students. Camps are on a first-come, first-serve basis. Beginning Wednesday, applications and information for the camps will be in each school office and on the school corporation’s website. Camps will be offered to Warsaw Community School Corp. students first, and then students outside the corporation, space permitting. Smyth said a camp needs a minimum of 15 students to be cost neutral to Warsaw Community Schools. Some camps will be capped at about 20 students. If a camp doesn’t have the minimum of 15 students, money will be refunded or the child may decide to pick another camp. On Fridays from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the program will be open to the community and parents to showcase student learning. Parents could see their students singing, acting, launching rockets or making candy, depending on the camp they enroll in. “The teachers themselves got to pick something they like to teach,” Smyth said. She said she threw the idea about the enrichment program out to all WCS teachers. “The teachers grabbed it and ran with the idea. I think it’s good for the corporation,” Smyth said. Smyth said they are bringing in the best teachers for the enrichment program. For example, Warsaw Community High School art teacher Don Swartzentruber used to be a Disney® animator. He is offering a camp called for first- through eighth-graders called “The Fine Art of Cartooning”. During the school year, teachers don’t always get to teach everything. During the camps, they will be able to teach what they love and “bring it to life,” Smyth said. Judy Kinsey will teach “Elementary French” to third- through fifth-graders, while fourth- through eighth-graders can take “Rocket Science” with Marc Andrews. Cindy Nash will work with fourth- through sixth-graders in “Summer Drama Camp”, while Gail Crone will lead “Extra, Extra, Read All About It” to third- to sixth-graders. In Nate Howett’s “Adventures in Science”, upon successfully passing exams, students will be able to purchase their hunting and/or boating licenses. His camp is for sixth- through eighth-graders. These are just a sample of the 30 different camps to be offered during the enrichment program. “It depends what parents choose,” Smyth said of the variety of camps to be offered. If this first year goes off well, Smyth said the potential for the future is great. “This is an introduction to what could be a summer academy for Warsaw Community Schools,” said Smyth. By July, parents are often looking for stuff for their children to do, and the camps can help keep the kids busy while also being educated. And, Smyth said, the camps will be fun. “If it runs well, I’d like to expand it and do it again next summer,” Smyth said. “... It starts here. I’d like to see it get better and bigger.” If the enrichment program grows as Smyth envisions it, she said eventually WCS could partner with local colleges and offer dual credits, or maybe with local companies. Normally, Smyth has July off. This summer, she’ll be using her energy to see that the enrichment program is the success she knows it can be. “It’s easy to have energy when it’s got great potential, and I know it’s good for the kids,” she said.
