CLARKS SUMMIT — Kids continued to learn even after the start of summer vacation during a program called Summit Up in June at Summit Christian Academy.
Summit Up in June offered a two-week, educational fun experience for students entering kindergarten through grade 12. There was an emphasis on the biblical philosophy of education in choosing staff, selecting courses to be taught, defining God-centered goals for each course and sharing truth about salvation and the Christian life.
One of the classes was classic children’s literature for grades K to 2 taught by Jill May which allowed students to do crafts and hands-on activities based on the stories they’ve read during the class. Kids read stories set in many foreign countries, including “Ferdinand” about a bull in Spain and “Papa Piccolo” about a cat in Venice, Italy. They learned about the countries and made pretend passports.
“I think it’s an excellent opportunity for kids to come together and learn with their friends,” said May.
The children also read a book called “How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World” by Marjorie Priceman. This book was about many different ingredients of apple pies from many different countries such as spices from India. The kids also got to make their own little apple pies in the class.
“I liked making the recipes,” said 6-year-old Gia Bruckner, of Clarks Summit.
In the Art Exploration class for those in grades six to nine, students learned basic drawing skills using graphite acrylic, colored pencils, and watercolor. They also learned the scribble effect, where they drew a picture and scribbled inside it with colored pencil.
“The program was excellent,” said teacher Blanche Baransky. “The children had a chance to expand with literature, science, and art mediums.”
Children in grades seven to 12 were taught how to be detectives in a class called CSI — Applying Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, taught by Landon Morey, who loves to watch crime shows like “CSI: Miami.” He taught DNA, fingerprinting, and forensic entomology, which means insect bites on corpses. Students figured out whodunnits by using science and learned how to decipher codes of the four bases of DNA analysis. They also had an obstacle course in which they had to answer questions to advance to the next level.
“I really enjoyed it,” Morey said about teaching this course.
In the class called Animal Discovery, for grades one through 6, teacher Tiana Haas taught the children about the habitats of animals such as the forest, rainforest, desert and arctic. She also taught them which animals hibernate and migrate. They learned to classify animals, such as mammals and reptiles and were taught to do hands-on projects, animal movement activities, and outdoor activities.
“I like learning about the ocean because that’s where my favorite animals live such as whales, squids, and sharks,” said 8-year-old Jonah King, of Nicholson.
King also enjoys collecting plastic sea animals.
“I liked learning about different sea animals,” said 8-year-old Chase Butash, of Throop. “I like how the animals have different colors, and I like to collect little crabs.”
Haas liked teaching this class.
“I love teaching and it gave me an opportunity before teaching during the school year. This is my fourth year teaching kindergarten here at the school,” she said
In the Dramatic Experience class, geared for children in grades three to 12, kids learned basic acting skills, characters, and theater terms such as props, costumes, and stage direction. Kids rehearsed a play called “Love Is a Choice,” which they created. This play is about a robot who shows love to everyone.
“It was a ton of fun,” said teacher Melissa Feldman. “The kids have a lot of energy.”
Eight-year-old Al Snipes, of Jessup, played the robot. Ten-year-old Christopher Ardent, of Scott Twp., played the mad scientist and 9-year-old Audrey Izon, of Brooklyn, played the assistant to the mad scientist. They performed the play during the closing ceremony on June 29, giving them an opportunity to show their parents what they learned during the two weeks of Summit Up in June.
