Easing The Move Educators Hope Day Camp At Chase Will Smooth The Transition For New Seventh-Graders

Pretend that you’re 12 again. You’re almost a teen, but still young enough to enjoy catching frogs and running through the sprinklers.

You’re also in your last year of elementary school, the place where you’ve spent half of your life. Ahead, looming over the lazy days of summer, is an uncertain future that is the subject of dark rumors on the playground and after school: the transfer next fall to middle school.

Older kids are pushy and mean, the principal spanks students with a giant paddle, and everyone will make fun of you, they say.

And now, like most graduating sixth-graders, you’re nervous and scared.

The transition from sixth to seventh grade is recognized by education professionals as one of the most difficult for a child to make.

To ease that transition, educators at Sheridan Elementary and Chase Middle School are trying out a new program they think will help.

The two schools have teamed up with the Hub program to offer a summer camp that gives outgoing Sheridan students an inside look at their new school.

Hub is a federally funded Spokane School District 81 program that encourages the use of school facilities after hours.

“We think of this camp as a bridge from Sheridan to Chase,” said Barb Thaler, one of four teachers working with the 30 students attending the monthlong program.

The campgoers meet at Sheridan Monday through Thursday for a free breakfast and later a free lunch. In between, they are bused to Chase for all sorts of activities that are fun but that also teach them skills to help them adapt to their new school.

Take the scavenger hunt, for instance.

On the first day of camp, a week ago Wednesday, 12-year-old Victoria Orden learned her way around Chase inside and out. Orden and her classmates searched for hours to find offices, bathrooms, the library and other key locations, which they dutifully noted on a form. The exercise gave them an intimate introduction to the school, much better than a tour they took to Chase at the end of May.

The scavenger hunt kept them motivated to pay attention.

“I got to know where everything was real well,” Orden said.

During a game of M&M math in the library last Thursday, students helped each other solve addition and subtraction problems using M&M candies.

The hum of quiet conversation filled the air as the students diligently counted the pieces of candy.

“Isn’t seven times four 34?” one boy asked, his face scrunched with mental effort. His friend thought for a moment.

“No, it’s 28!” he said quickly.

The team activities help students learn social skills that will allow them to more easily integrate into Chase, said teacher Debbie Newsum.

“We are trying to get the skills in but do it in a way that is fun,” she said.

“Can we eat the M&Ms?” one boy asked Newsum. “It says, `Put two in your mouth and then, how many do you have left?”’

“Well, if that’s what it says, then you can,” she answered, inspecting his work. “Wow, you’re really fast.”

The boy beamed.

Newsum doesn’t miss an opportunity to lavish praise on the budding students. She said that one of the camp’s objectives is to build confidence in not-so-confident kids.

Sheridan is currently the only elementary school in District 81 to send a contingent of kids through the camp. To keep costs down, John Keller, a Hub coordinator, said teachers selected children they felt would benefit most.

Some aren’t doing well academically. Some don’t get along with other students, or they seem to be left out of social groups.

In the future, though, based on the success of this summer’s camp, Keller said the district may extend the program to include all graduating sixth-graders.

However, even with only 30 students, the camp is expensive - $20,000, and Keller noted that it will be subject to review afterward to determine its effectiveness.

Everyone involved, however, seems optimistic that the camp will work.

“We are going to make it a lot easier on teachers next year,” said camp teacher Heidi Santiago, who teaches seventh-graders at Chase during the year. She will be teaching camp participants next year.

Santiago said the kids who go through this camp will be comfortable and feel safe in school.

“I don’t know why we didn’t start it before,” she said.