FRANKLIN
J.P. King Jr. Middle School’s summer school program, S.T.R.E.A.M., had its concluding ceremony recently. The administrators, teachers, school board members and even one parent stood up to talk about how proud they were of the students and how well they had done this summer. S.T.R.E.A.M. ― which stands for Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Art, Math, is anything but your average summer school program.

S.T.R.E.A.M. took on the approach of acting as a team, instead of individuals. Each student dressed in khaki pants and blue polo shirts. The teachers and administrators even wore these colors. Darren Parker, J.P. King Jr. Middle School’s newly appointed assistant principal, told the audience that he felt that treating the students and staff as one would encourage the students to do better and keep them motivating each other.

The students who were a part of S.T.R.E.A.M. reportedly really enjoyed this program and looked forward to going to it each day. During the conclusion ceremony, many of the students stood up alongside their teachers to explain what they had learned this summer and show off many of their projects.

This program’s main focus was on reading and mathematics. All the students enriched their reading and vocabulary levels during their English classes. Seventh graders read about a Utopia in one of their books and for a fun and engaging project, they got to create their own version of a Utopia and then they shared that with the audience during the ceremony.

In the math classes at this program, the students practiced the concepts they had learned the previous year so they could have a strong foundation for their math level in the upcoming school year. The math teachers suggested that students invest in flash cards so they could continue practicing their skills before the new school year begins.

For the afternoon hours, the students got to pick an enrichment class that interested them, and learn about different aspects of that subject, depending on their grade level. The choices for enrichment classes were art, science and robotics. In the art enrichment class they got to make their own reflection from the three different field trips the S.T.R.E.A.M. program took this summer. They visited the Virginia Aquarium, the Air & Space Museum and the Science Museum of Virginia. Many of the students chose to do their reflection on the aquarium and created their favorite animal out of different art supplies.

During the science enrichment class the students go to learn about science and chemistry. One of the things that sixth graders learned about was solar energy. The students made their own solar ovens and showed them off to the audience during the ceremony. The seventh graders learned about ecosystems. The students made their own ecosystems and presented them in a slideshow during the ceremony. Lastly, some of the things the eighth graders learned about were electromagnets and different experiments. The students’ favorite experiment used Diet Coke and Mentos, and some of the students told the audience about that experiment during the ceremony.

The robotics enrichment program built different robots that came in kits, which had over 601 pieces. Each grade level made a different project from one another. The students not only had to build these robots though, they also had to program them and learn to control them. The different grade levels showed off their robots during the ceremony as well.

Principal Lisa Francis said, “They’ve done a great job and got a head’s up on the net year. I think it’s going to be a real advantage for them.”

Parker added, “We’ve had very strong support from the top financially and emotionally.”

He also noted that they couldn’t have held this program nor had the success that this program brought without help from the top all the way to the bottom of the chain. Parker thanked everybody, including the parents and the students, for all of their hard work this summer in making this program the success that it was.

To show how proud of the students all staff members and other FCPS members are, they announced that they would be taking the students to the Washington Redskins training camp in Richmond.