Depending on the Ford government, a summer learning program run by the Near North District School Board may not see the light of day this year if the province doesn’t come through with funding the way it has in the past.
The board runs the programs like camps and should not be interpreted as summer school even though they focus on the 3 R’s.
The principal of the program, Christopher Walkling says the camps are intended to negate the summer learning loss some students experience once the school year ends and they’re on summer break.
Walkling says the program is geared toward different age groups.
For example, the power math camp is designed for Grades 2 to 4 students where they learn about mathematics through fun events.
Walkling says the readers’ camp focuses on writing and reading and is for Grades 1 to 3 students.
An element of this camp is students reading to themselves, their peers or even an audience.
Walkling says the sessions are capped to 20 students, they are all free and the goal is “to preserve in-year gains.”
The third camp is for Grades 6 to 8 students and uses film to increase their literacy skills.
Appropriately, the board refers to this at the Reel Writers camp to reinforce the concept of literacy through movie reels.
In this camp, the students work as a team to develop a small movie.
Their work involves the writing section and creating storyboards.
Although Walkling says students want to use a camera right away, they quickly realize before that happens, they need to have a plan so that they know what to shoot and how.
The summer learning program has operated the last two years under a grant of $105,000 which is mostly spent on staff wages and transportation.
The board says it won’t know until March or April if the provincial government will fund the program again this year.