A Leg Up on Learning
By Josh Newton, Tahlequah Daily Press, Okla.
Jun. 17–Several hundred Tahlequah students are spending some extra time this summer working on their education.
The Tahlequah Public Schools summer program kicked off June 2, and continues throughout the month each Monday through Friday.
“Everything is going great!” said Kair Ridenhour, summer school elementary director.
An average of 150 students from all three elementary-level schools spend the morning with a focus on reading and math at Greenwood Elementary.
“We have two kindergarten classes, two first-grade classes, four second-grade classes and three third-grade classes,” said Ridenhour. “They spend about two hours each on reading and math.”
Students are also provided breakfast and lunch, and participate in a recess in the morning.
“By state law, summer school can only run Monday through Thursday, so on Friday, we have what we call ‘Fun Friday,’” said Ridenhour.
Friday activities are sponsored by the Boys & Girls Club of Tahlequah.
“We’ve taken them to the city pool, and showed a movie at school,” said Ridenhour. “This Friday, we’re going to the Muskogee water park.”
He appreciates the time and effort put into the program by the adults.
“The staff is wonderful,” said Ridenhour, who will be the new assistant principal at Cherokee Elementary next school year. “We have 13 certified teachers and five paraprofessionals. They went through an application process, and we took candidates as we needed them.”
Students who are part of the morning summer school sessions can also hang around from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. for the B&GC afternoon activities each day.
“They come in after they eat their lunch, and we do fun things,” said B&GC Executive Director Janice Randall.
Students have gone to the park to catch crawdads, and visited the Tahlequah Public Library for activities.
“Youth leaders offer arts and crafts, art classes, board games,” said Randall.
To alleviate the possibility of heat exhaustion, Randall said those working the activities ask kids what they want to do and feel like doing, and plan activities with those suggestions in mind.
“Every day is different,” said Randall.
Randall utilizes about one youth leader for every 10 students, helping keep the day fun and lively with plenty of supervision. Of all the participating students, kindergarten through eighth-graders, only a few leave after morning classes.
“The really enjoyed the trip to the city pool, for a private swim, so we’re going to do that again on [Friday], June 27,” said Randall.
Ridenhour said being director of the summer school program for the first time has been a sort of trial by fire.
“It’s a learning process,” he said. “It’s great.”
Students at Tahlequah Middle School are also focusing on reading and math this summer. TMS summer school program Coordinator Sherry Qualls said students going into fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grade next year eat breakfast at Greenwood Elementary every morning, then are bused to TMS for the program, then back to Greenwood for lunch.
“We have 70 students, and four wonderful teachers,” said Qualls. “They [teachers] are very hands-on.”
Qualls said teachers and students are working with computer-generated materials and several programs, and that a hands-on learning environment is important for summer school.
“It’s going great!” said Qualls. “I can’t believe it’s going by so fast.”
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