Today is the last day to register for Summer Avalanche 2021, the academic enrichment program for Monongalia County students which hits this summer.
Organizers say the idea is the pile on the learning fun for that segment of the local population left idle during the school break because of the coronavirus.
“There really is something for everyone,” Deputy Superintendent Donna Talerico said earlier.
Which, she and other organizers also said, might be an academic understatement – as the free offerings include courses on computer coding, video games as literature, culinary arts, woodworking, fitness programs and a study of the Italian language.
Registration for the free offerings ends at 6 p.m. Friday, April 30. The Avalanche is from July 6-29.
To sign up, visit Monongalia County Schools online at https://boe.mono.k12.wv.us/ where you’ll find the links to those offerings at every school in the district for every student, from kindergarten through senior year.
The district will also provide free bus transportation and free lunch and snacks at every school, Talerico said, courtesy of a $1.4 million outlay from the federal Elementary and Secondary School Relief Fund (ESSERF).
ESSERF dollars in recent months have been doled out to school districts across the country, including Mon’s, through the U.S. Department of Education.
The idea of the Avalanche, Talerico said, is to keep students engaged over the summer, while maybe notching some momentum toward fall.
A forward step is a forward step, board member Melanie Rogers said, especially since it will probably take two academic years to gauge the full intellectual and social impact on the students who go to school here.
Remember, too, that everything was shuttered this time last year, she said.
Students were on full remote learning and extracurricular programs were shut down – just like that.
“I think what’s so positive for this summer is that we’re talking about it.”
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