Sherry Reese
Vaught, third from left, created Fun Summer Wednesdays at Prospect Elementary
School. Her volunteer helpers include Pat Reed, Breanna Brown and Penny Jones. Veteran
teacher Sherry Reese Vaught had an idea for free Fun Summer Wednesdays to help
incoming third-graders sharpen their classroom skills and enjoy field trips.
The Richland County Foundation thought it was a great idea. So did the Richland
County Youth and Family Council. So did the Richland County Juvenile Detention
Center.
The
six-Wednesdays enrichment program began June 19 in the modular computer lab
behind Prospect Elementary School. About 20 kids participate.
“It’s a positive school experience and fun,” said Vaught, a second-grade teacher at Prospect. “We have kids from every elementary school in the district who will be going into third grade in August.
“The kids are quiet and motivated. They are here because they want to be.”
Vaught’s efforts come from the heart; she isn’t being paid.
She wrote a grant proposal that was approved by the Richland County Foundation’s Summertime Kids Committee. The foundation paid for books and provided the money to pay entrance fees for the field trips.
The Youth
and Family Council is paying for Mansfield City Schools bus transportation for
the kids, while the juvenile detention center is covering the cost of snacks
and lunches.
“The juvenile detention center said they wanted to help because kids involved in a program like this are less likely to be involved with the police,” Vaught said.
Volunteers
Pat Reed, Penny Jones and sixth-grader Breanna Brown are helping Vaught with
the Wednesday programs.
“When the kids arrive the first thing they do is go through the Scholastic books and pick out five to read. They get to keep one each week,” Vaught said.
“They read the story of the week on their computers, then we talk about it. It’s laid back, not like the school year.”
Reading,
writing and math activities fill the two hours from 10 a.m. to noon. Afternoon
field trips have included the downtown carrousel, the Mansfield/Richland County
Public Library, Gorman Nature Center and the YMCA. Future trips will include
the Little Buckeye Museum and the Liberty Park swimming pool or the Altitude
Trampoline Park, depending on the weather.
The kids
return to Prospect by 3 p.m. to catch buses for the ride home.
“After our Gorman Nature Center visit the kids wrote about squirrels and drew pictures of them. They also wrote thank-you letters to Gorman,” Vaught said.
The Richland County Foundation’s web site says its Summertime Kids Committee, co-chaired by foundation board of trustees members Julie McCready and Jotika Shetty, along with members of the community, awarded grants to support creative, educational and fun-filled activities for children.
Vaught’s Fun Summer Wednesdays is intended to counter the “summer slide,” the term used to describe a decline in academic skills over June, July and August.
“I’ve been an elementary teacher for a long time. The summer slide is real,” Vaught said. “Second-graders who are entering third grade will take the state reading test for the first time in October or November. We want them to be ready.
“My experience has been that kids – including mine—spend a lot of (telephone or video game) screen time in the summer.”