Mon Schools summer programs: Learning (by the thousands)
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MORGANTOWN - Susan Taylor was simultaneously jeered and cheered during Tuesday night's meeting of the Monongalia County Board of Education.
The jeering was all in good fun.
That's because the reading specialist turned administrator found herself in the role of autumnal harbinger during the gathering.
"I'm here to close out summer," said Taylor, who oversees the district's popular Summer Sizzler and Summer Avalanche outings over the seasonal break from school.
The cheering was legitimate.
And that's because both programs enjoyed banner participation this year.
More than 13,000 books - critically acclaimed works by recognized authors of fiction for young readers - were handed out during Sizzler's run, she reported.
A good 2,500 students participated in the Summer Avalanche, Taylor said, with students participating in learning sessions trending more toward hands-on than screentime.
There were culinary classes, art classes, music classes and more - and designed to keep brains pliable and responsive during the break.
Both were inspired by a lot of snow, Deputy Schools Superintendent Donna Talerico said - and both were defined and honed, even more, by the storms of COVID in 2020.
Summer Sizzler came out of the particularly pronounced winter months of 2014, Talerico said, when students were saddled with 18 snow days.
Like a storm system brewing, Summer Avalanche, in particular, kept gaining strength.
Its initial offerings morphed into sessions on computer coding, movie screenwriting and more, Talerico said.
"Summer Avalanche is just part of the weave for Monongalia County Schools," the deputy superintendent said. "It tells our story."
All this learning wasn't happening on collective empty stomachs, either, as Taylor reminded the board.
Cafeteria workers prepared 8,000 breakfast trays for the participants, she said. More than 13,000 lunches were also served up.
Superintendent Eddie Campbell said it all started looking familiar.
"Dr. Taylor essentially runs a small school district in the summertime," Campbell said.