HARRISON –
The Harrison Public School District is offering an action-packed Summer Enrichment program for middle school and high school students this year.
Personnel Director James Doran has advised parents that, “The primary focus of the program is to improve student achievement for all Harrison Public School students by providing them with academic, social and personal enrichment opportunities during the summer months.”
Doran said that students who will be entering grades 6 through 12 in September will participate in two “clubs” and will complete projects that “infuse all content areas to provide students with dynamic learning opportunities that are fun and engaging.”
The programs runs from July 11 to Aug. 3, Mondays through Thursdays, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. each day, at Harrison High School.
All students enrolled will receive free lunches and T-shirts. Field trips are also in the works.
Among the listed course offerings are these:
- Instrumental Music and Band for grades 6 to 8 and 9 to 12. Students will perform at the district’s third annual Outdoor Concert at the program’s end.
- Chorus for grades 6 to 8 and 9 to 12. These students will also perform at the Outdoor Concert.
- Architecture & Engineering for grades 6 to 8 only. Students will test out prototypes of buildings and bridges for a mock “Harrison Town Improvement Project.”
- Media & Communications for grades 6 to 8 only. Students will use videos, social media, photographs, blogs, etc., to report on all enrichment activities.
- Cooking Basics for grades 6 to 8 and 9 to 12. Students will prepare recipes in the high school’s new culinary kitchen. They’ll learn about kitchen safety, measurements and food prep techniques.
- Peer Leadership for grades 6 to 8 and 9 to 12. The peer leaders will work with a community food bank and develop an action plan.
- Sports Journalism for grades 6 to 8 only. Students will create and update a sports blog about current sporting events.
- Short Story Writing for grades 6 to 8 and 9 to 12. Students will publish original short stories.
- Yoga & Stress Management for grades 9 to 12 only. Students will learn to develop self-acceptance and centering and explore good nutrition by learning recipes for smoothies and healthy snacks.
- Forensics for grades 9 to 12 only. Students will learn how to process a crime scene, collect evidence and experiment to discover, “Who did it?”
- Art Inventions for grades 6 to 8 and 9 to 12. Students will create four large-scale public art pieces from a variety of mediums and formats that “intervene and clash with the public space in a surprising, humorous or clever way.”
- Stop Motion Animation for grades 6 to 8 and 9 to 12. Students will work collaboratively to create a stop motion animation video clip, using an iPad and a movie maker app, culminating with a film festival of the animated shorts.
- Personal Finance for grades 6 to 8 only. Students will learn about budgeting, earning, banking and spending as they explore real-life money scenarios.
- Industrial Arts for grades 6 to 8 only. Students will learn to use a variety of hand tools as they plan out a woodworking project. They will measure, cut wood and follow a building plan to design, build and wire a wooden lamp.
For more information about the enrichment program, send an email to Amy Heberling, assistant curriculum director, at amy.heberling@staff.harrisonschools.org.
– Ron Leir
