Grimes Schools hosts Summer Enrichment Camp

Although school is out, scholars at Grimes Elementary are staying on top of their academics through summer enrichment camp.

Educational programs such as LitCamp and MathCamp give students the opportunity to continue their ELA and mathematics learning year-round. Such initiatives help prevent summer learning loss, ensuring that students retain crucial knowledge and return to school in the fall fully prepared for the upcoming academic year.

Fourth and fifth-grade students have been honing their skills with teachers Donna Bailey and Tabatha Harrell, who facilitate educational lessons during the summer camp.

Students recently became “rounding rangers,” learning how to round multi-digit numbers. Working together, students learned how to round to the nearest 10,100, 1,000, 10,000 and even 100,000! 

“The Summer Enrichment Camp helps students strengthen academic skills, build confidence and develop a love of learning through engaging, hands-on activities,” Ms.Tabatha, who leads math lessons, said Thursday. “These activities give students the opportunity to explore new ideas, and to also grow socially in a fun and supportive environment.”

Ms. Bailey spearheads the ELA session, starting each morning with a camp chant to create a welcoming and inclusive learning environment. Students participate in fun vocabulary review games and shared reading around the campfire. 

Currently, students are reading “Because of Winn-Dixie.” Throughout the reading, Mrs. Bailey paused frequently to ask comprehension questions, encouraging students to identify the gist, make predictions, infer character feelings and support their thinking with evidence from the text.

Each day concludes with a spirit chant:

"We're the Cool Camp, the Mighty, Mighty Cool Camp! Everywhere we go, people want to know who we are, so we tell them!"

Campers ended the session celebrating with a fun dance, leaving energized, connected and excited for another day of camp.