Governor Sees Summer Learning at King Elementary School
Governor Branstad talks with a student in the Starfish Academy summer program at King Elementary School.
There’s so much going on this summer at King Elementary School that the governor and his lieutenant showed up there Tuesday morning for a gubernatorial fieldtrip. After holding their weekly press conference in the school gym Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds were treated to a tour of the Starfish Academy, the robust summer enrichment program that’s keeping 62 students who will be entering grades one through five this fall both busy and happy.
A coalition of community stakeholders including the United Way, the YMCA, Community! Youth Concepts, After School Arts Program (ASAP) and Prairie Meadows is partnering with Des Moines Public Schools through its 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant to make it all happen. And a lot is happening.
Kids arrive at 8:00 and start the day with breakfast before heading to classrooms by grade level for instruction with an emphasis on literacy. The idea is to prevent the regression in proficiency that research has shown can occur over the course of a traditional summer break from school. There’s a midmorning break for physical activity. After lunch there’s a shift of gears into the arts for the younger students and STEM content for the 4th and 5th graders.
And there are fieldtrips – to ballgames, zoos and community gardens.
There was a time when summer school was strictly a punitive last resort for students who’d failed coursework during the regular school year. Not anymore. The Starfish Academy is more about getting ahead than catching up and the kids who are there couldn’t be more pleased. Two fine ambassadors for the program are Sofia Mayrivero and Leasia Williams. They’re both 10 and about to enter 5th grade. After explaining an art display depicting Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal to Gov. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Reynolds they were beaming and bragging.
“We get to do so much fun stuff,” Sofia said. “This is way better than just lying around with nothing to do.”
Leasia grinned and nodded. She and Sofia looked at each other and giggled the way kids do when they’re getting what they want. And all of their distinguished guests looked at each other and nodded the way adults do when kids are getting what they need.
United Way of Central Iowa President Mary Sellers explained that the Starfish Academy is part of an effort called Summer in the City going on across the area (it’s five-pointed, just like a starfish):
- Summer Learning for Elementary Students
- MLK Park Youth
- Middle School Summer Program
- Refugee Summer Enrichment Program
- Summer Youth Experience Program (SYEP)
That first one sounded a little too institutional for Cameron Nicholson from the John R. Grubb YMCA. He suggested Starfish Academy based on the story about someone walking along a beach teeming with marooned starfish who starts throwing them into the sea. When told her efforts didn’t make a difference since it was impossible to save them all the woman replied, “It makes a difference to this one,” as she flung another back.
“These six weeks will make a difference in the lives of every single one of the kids here,” said King Dean of Students Brad Paul. “And we are so grateful to all of the partners who are involved and to the governor and lieutenant governor for coming to visit today.”
Both Gov. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Reynolds pointed out that they have grandchildren the ages of some of the kids at King. That was obvious as they made the rounds of the classrooms and displays, talking with the starfishes. And especially when they returned to the gym for a dramatization of the book Creepy Carrots. Nobody appreciates what it takes to play a bunny or an alligator or an orange vegetable with green hair like a grandparent.
