Colleagues,
We are always excited to share interesting ideas and activities that have proven successful in one or more of our MAVA schools. Today we are pleased to share an idea from Chicopee Comp concerning their summer school program!
David
How Chicopee made summer school classes a lot more appealing this year
Published: Aug. 09, 2023, 6:04 a.m. Jeanette DeForge | jdeforge@repub.com
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Chicopee Middle Schoolers get taste of Comp High programs
This summer, Jeremiah Jones learned how to change a tire, make pizza from scratch, write, film, and edit his own video and, to top it off, he practiced measurements to make a pink paper flower for his mom perfectly symmetrical.
Jeremiah is one of more than 130 students who attended a program that raised summer school in Chicopee to a new level.
The program, designed for students entering sixth through ninth grades, combined morning math and English classes with a full afternoon of sports. As an additional draw, the school offered vocational courses to introduce students to the popular career technical education programs at Chicopee and Comprehensive high schools.
“No matter what we do, even if it is just reading a book, they make it fun,” said Jeremiah, 11, who will be starting 6th grade this month. “It works really well.”
Vocational element
The full-day program began at 8 a.m. with breakfast followed by math and English courses and then about an hour of vocational classes. After lunch, students spent about four hours in sports programs ending at about 4 p.m.
Last year an athletic camp with academics had some success. This year, teachers wanted to enhance the program and break up the day by adding a career technical component to the five weeks, said Carl Ingram, director of the Career Technical Education program.
Making pizzas in the Culinary Arts shop are (from left), middle schoolers Colin Nichols, Gabe Gonzalez, and Austin Bagley during middle school summer program at Chicopee Comprehensive High. (Don Treeger / The Republican)
The idea gives students an introduction to career programs offered through both schools, which includes the full state-certified vocational programs at Comprehensive and a growing number of career pathways courses, such as health sciences, criminal justice, and business, at Chicopee High.
“We wanted to give kids an all-around experience,” Ingram said On “fun Fridays,” they changed things up and tried arts and crafts, gardening, and other activities.
Adding in vocational programs gave teachers another way to incorporate academics in a hands-on way, since students need to use skills they learn in English and math to do things like measure ingredients, understand gauges or write a video production.
“It also better prepares them for high school, and they get to know the building before they come here,” said Ed Stanton, the summer school director.
Half the program was held at Comprehensive High and the other half at Chicopee High. Students rotated to the three career programs held at each school. The classes were small – between six and nine students – so there was plenty of one-on-one attention, he said.
Sports draw
Many of the students said they were attracted by the athletics programs, which offered sports including swimming, soccer, basketball, and lacrosse. Students were required to attend the academic portion of the program if they wanted to play sports, but they could skip the athletics if they just wanted to come for the academics, he said.
Dillon Harris, 14, who is heading to the ninth grade in the fall, said he signed up mainly to have something to do over the summer. “You don’t want to be stuck at home all day,” he said.
He had already gone through the eight-day rotations in video production and culinary arts and was finishing his last in automotive. On a recent day, he learned to use a car jack and check gauges. “Probably my favorite part is the sports camp. You get to be active,” he said.
Jeremiah Jones and Madelyn MacKenzie, both 11, work on video production during a middle school summer program at Chicopee Comprehensive High. (Don Treeger / The Republican)
Automotive teacher Alfredo Gonzalez said his plan was to have students leave with a skill they can use in the future. He taught them how to jack up a car and change a tire, explaining to them when they learn to drive, they will never be stranded.
“I’ve had some students who are pretty interested. They have said my father is really into cars or my brother has [a] car and I help him,” he said.
Students were introduced to the shop lift and got to look at components under the hood of a car.
“It exposes them to what is offered in high school,” Gonzalez said. “If they aren’t into school, they learn there is another avenue you can take to have a good life.”
In the culinary program, the goal was to teach students basic dishes they could make at home.
Colin Nichols, 12, said he and classmates learned how to make pizza by mixing dough from scratch, following a recipe his teacher wrote on the board. “I’m rolling out the dough and I’m going to put it on the tray, and we are going to put sauce and toppings on it,” he said.
While the rising seventh grader said he signed up for the program to play sports, he found the culinary class was one of his favorite parts of the day.
Video stories
In the video production course, students worked with Chicopee High teacher Jeff Dahm, who on the day a reporter visited was teaching them how to make final edits on the film the middle schoolers had written, acted in, and filmed themselves.
The students developed a script that transformed the school library into a café, using whatever was available for props. The video ends with one of the students trying to rob the café while armed with a pink squirt gun.
Each of the students in the class worked individually to edit the video, coming up with different final copies, Dahm said.
Maddie MacKenzie, 11, a rising sixth grader, had an idea of ending the film with an explosion. Dahm showed her how to use software to find a loud bang and then gave her a few more ideas on how to fade the scene to black.
When she changed her mind on another edit, Dahm gave her tips on how to undo the change and to move a clip of the film to another spot.
“I really like how we get to create our own video,” she said.
David J. Ferreira
MAVA Communications Coordinator
DavidFerreira