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La Grande Pride
August 2022 • www.lagrandesd.org
SUMMER LEARNING REPORT
Camps, Jump Start and Freshman Academy
By Trish Yerges
This summer provided some great learning
experiences for our district students through a
wide variety of summer camps, the Jump Start
program and the Freshman Academy.
Tory Weimer, fifth grade teacher at Island
City Elementary, served as the summer camp
coordinator for the second consecutive year,
and he said the operation went smoothly. The
equipment was delivered efficiently where
it needed to be, the paperwork came in as it
should, and the communication between the
district, the Parks and Recreation personnel
and the camp leaders was really smooth and
efficient, he said.
“A lot of the science and arts camps had
extremely long wait lists, but that spoke to the
popularity of it,” he said.
There were actually a number of very
popular camps, including the woodturning
camp and the cutting board camp, both led by
Darren Hendrickson. “His two camps filled up
and had waiting lists of 17 for one camp and 12
students for the other camp,” Weimer said.
“That was a popular camp for seventh
through twelfth graders.”
There were also middle school and
high school Sound Tech 101 camps led by
Stacy Shown. “The middle school had nine
participants and the high school had three
participants.”
At the elementary grade level, there were
reading and STEM camps, which were enjoyed
by students. There was also the K-2 poetry
camp that had 20 participating students led
by Stacy Shown. “She also taught the theater
camp for the middle school and that camp had
20 participants, a full class,” Weimer added.
“The Science and nature camps were really
popular at all grade levels.”
The football camps were among the last of
the camps for the summer program. Looking
forward, Weimer said that he won’t know until
later if the State of Oregon will fund camps
again next summer, the way they have been,
but if so, he would like to be involved in it
again.
Superintendent George Mendoza shared
that he was very pleased that LGSD school
was able to carry out a summer camp and
learning program that served students with
summer opportunities. “We are thankful to our
staff for being so invested in children that they
were willing to give their time to provide sum-
mer learning opportunities.”
Jump Start Program
For the past two years, State funding has
been appropriated to initiate the Jump Start
program at Island City Elementary School and
the La Grande Middle School. It basically
introduces kids in early August to the school
environment in advance of the new school year,
and it prepares their minds for learning.
At the La Grande Middle School, Princi-
pal Chris Wagner welcomed a good number
of student
participants
to the Jump
Start program
from Mondays
through Thurs-
days, August 1
– 18. “We had
just about 46
incoming sixth
graders, who
are brand new
to the school;
20 incoming
seventh grad-
ers and 20 in-
Duante races to base
coming eighth
graders that
during the Jump Start
wanted to get
summer learning
a jump start to
program.
the new school
year,” he said.
The Jump Start program included math,
English and an elective time that they par-
ticipated in, which ran 9 a.m. to noon. The
teachers designed things to be more project
based versus paper or book studies. Students
enrolled received breakfast and lunch and
enjoyed about three hours of activity-based
projects led by their teachers.
“They are focusing on hitting foundational
concepts at each one of those grade levels in
those areas, and then there’s the elective area
where the teachers were asked to do some
activity-based projects involving science, tech-
nology, engineering and math focuses,” Wagner
said.
Wagner was very pleased with the good
turn-out of students for the program, and the
teachers were excited to see everyone.
The school will call parents in early June
to give them an opportunity to enroll their
children. Some children who are recommended
to the Jump Start program by their teachers
will be given the first opportunity to enroll,
and after that, a general invitation is extended
to the rest of the student body.
“This is just a good example of the district
doing everything it can to support our students
and community, and fill any needs that arise as
we see them,” Wagner concluded.
Jump Start for the elementary grade levels
also went very well. Principal Brett Smith of
Island City Elementary said, “We’re pretty ex-
cited about it. It’s the first time we combined
all the schools with students from Central,
Zion Devore and Anne Sweet at Adam
Greenwood and Island City, attending at
Slippy’s welding camp.
Island City Elementary.”
The turnout was very good with 165 stu-
campus, and they met some of their teachers
dents the first week of August and two teach-
as well as fellow classmates.
ers per grade level. Buses were arranged for
“Ideally, there are several goals involved
kids who needed to attend, and kids received
with the Freshman Academy,” said LHS As-
breakfast and lunch.
sistant Principal Eric Freeman. “We want
“It seemed like a mini school running here,” to provide a broad overview of some different
Smith said, “and the teachers had a lot of great programs and pathways the high school has to
activities going on. We dusted off the cobwebs
offer the students. In doing so, the students
with math facts, reading skills, physical educa- are involved with a variety of activities and
tion, and then we had give-away gifts at the
different curriculums.”
end for kids attending.”
As a few examples, Freeman pointed out
From August 1 – 18, teachers from every
that students might explore some classes in
elementary school, plus para-professionals and math, English, or STEM subjects like program-
administrators from each school building were
ming and coding, an introduction to Spanish
present so that the kids saw familiar faces in
vocabulary and foods, and they might try
the hallways at Jump Start. “We had a good
culinary arts. “We offer hospitality and tour-
kindergarten group---actually our largest
ism, manufacturing, and medical pathways,”
group, and we also had students attending all
he said. “We wanted to give them some ideas
the way to fifth grade,” he added.
on what they could do at high school and the
Smith said the real emphasis for fourth
classes they could take.”
and fifth graders was their math skills, work-
As a bonus, when a student attends ten out
ing on addition, subtraction and the multipli-
of the twelve class days at the academy, they
cation tables. Teachers used games and other
qualify to earn one elective credit toward their
activities to reinforce all those skills in the
graduation requirements. Walking into their
students. They also covered basic reading skills freshman year with an elective credit already
appropriate to each grade, and older students
in hand, can mean greater student success in
received a chance to read with an adult and
the freshman year.
dive into the facts of what they read.
“In prior years, of the students who earned
“I’m grateful to the families for prioritizing
an elective credit in the Freshman Academy,
this so their kids could attend,” Smith said. “I
87.5 percent of them were on track at the end
know, sometimes in the summer, that’s hard
of the first quarter in their freshman year,”
to do, but it’s going to be of great value to the
Freeman said.
kids on that first day of school. They’ll be
Consequently, Freeman has been thinking
going into school feeling a little more ready.
about how this program might be expanded
I’m also grateful to our elementary staff that
next year to benefit even more kids.
stepped up to organize and focus on this. It’s
“This year we targeted it as a freshman
been a great thing for the kids and a value to
academy,” Freeman said, “but I would consider
the community.”
offering a similar program to some of our
Freshman Academy
sophomores, who might be in need of getting
The Freshman Academy was held August
off to a good start or maybe they want to make
1-19, running Mondays through Thursdays at
up an elective credit.”
La Grande High School. This was its sec-
Freeman is confident that those participat-
ond year and three certified teachers ran the
ing in the Freshman Academy receive awe-
program for the 40 student participants. It
some learning opportunities and a jump start
was designed to help students make their
to student success in their freshman year at
transition to their freshman year this fall an
La Grande High School. If you have questions
easier one through advanced introductions and on if next year’s academy would benefit your
immersion into some career pathway classes.
child, please contact Mr. Freeman’s office for
At the Freshman Academy, the students
details.
were introduced to the La Grande High School