Chris Lewis is already playing with the Lego robotics sets he’ll be using to teach robotics as part of School District 72’s Summer School Program.
They’re spread out all over the desks of his class after hours so he can re-familiarize himself with them a little better before launching into it with the kids in a couple of months.
Summer School, Lewis says, is more about “doing fun stuff” than it is about traditional learning models, though there is certainly learning happening as well, just not in a traditional way.
“It’s work, sure,” he says, laughing again, “but it’s a lot of fun, too.”
Rod Beavis, who teaches stop motion animation over the summer, agrees.
“It’s another way for the students to be creative,” he says simply, as though teaching animation to elementary school kids is the most obvious thing in the world to be doing. “It’s not just about making a bunch of things move around on screen; it’s about storytelling. It’s about crafting a narrative and it has elements of design. It’s multi-modal learning. It’s fun, yes, but they’re also learning all the pieces that they need in order to convey something to an audience.”
It’s not what most people think of when they hear the term “Summer School,” where a student who needs to do some catching up “has to go,” like it’s some kind of punishment.
“It’s definitely not remedial,” Beavis says.
“Our role is to provide educational opportunities for kids,” Lewis says. “And we have some fun while we’re at it.”
For more information on the offerings coming up this summer, or to register early, there’s an open house coming up next Wednesday (May 4) at École Phoenix from 6 to 8 p.m.
Representatives from the Discovery Passage Aquarium and the City of Campbell River recreation and culture department will also be on hand to take registrations and provide information on their summer program offerings.