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The Camp Casa summer program for the Aromas-San Juan Unified School District ended on July 24 with a dance recital following the World Cup Soccer meet the previous day. Well, not quite the world, unless your world is made up of the students from Aromas School and San Juan Elementary who took part in six weeks of activities and learning opportunities offered by the district in cooperation with the San Benito Youth Alliance.
“We were able to expand our transportation this year,” said Jivan Dhaliwal, director of curriculum and instruction. “There were 96 students, which is 34 more than last year, which is a big increase in participation. Half were from each of the schools, and there were no students left on the waiting list.”
Activities began at 8:10 a.m. and continued through 5:30 p.m. with a rotating schedule of 10 learning or recreational activities, including classes on literacy, the C.A.T.C.H. (Coordinated Approach to Child Health) program, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) learning, visual and performing arts, and emotional development with breaks for snacks, lunch and outdoor activities. There were also themed events like Hawaiian Day, and College Day, where each classroom adopted a college, plus field trips to places like Arabian Horse Play ranch.
There were also 18 days of academic intervention with four credentialed teachers.
“Out of our students, 60% of them were identified as needing increased literacy, English, reading, math and writing skills,” Dhaliwal said, “They were pulled out of the classrooms for one-on-one instruction or up to groups of five from 30 to 45 minutes about every other day.”
Dhaliwal said that the extra attention increased the students’ academic enrichment and helped the school identify additional students who would require extra support during the upcoming school year.
“If a student has not previously mastered certain concepts,” she said, “it is really challenging to teach them. The summer program helps, but it just takes more work during the school year.”
This year JMM All Abilities Dance Co. was added to the program, working with students three times a week to prepare them for a recital for their parents on Camp Casa’s last day.
“We try to bring mental health awareness through social-emotional learning and the tools of dance,” said JMM founder Veronica Elaine Vasquez. “They learn to express their minds and their bodies as one connection, and we find that it really helps support kids by giving them affirmations and mindful skills.”
During the classes, students were asked to identify three emotions and put them into different scenarios.
“We want them to think about what ways that your body interacts with their emotions,” she said. “What kinds of things do you feel and what kinds of things do you say? They’re dancing, but there’s more than just the dance: they are communicating.”
Dhaliwal hopes to expand the Camp Casa program further, but the district has already decided to carry one feature into the upcoming school year: early student drop-offs for parents who need accommodations because of their work schedules.
Students were allowed to be dropped off as early as 6:30 a.m. and were provided with breakfast and participated in physical activities such as basketball in the school gym.
“We’ve found that parents have been asking for this,” Dhaliwal said, “and it gives students a chance for enrichment activities before their classes start. There was so much enthusiasm that, during the school year, we will be allowing drop-offs as early as 6:45 a.m.”
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