Schools

The Summer Minds To Hold Open House

Organizers of The Summer Minds, a three-week academic summer camp, are holding an open house Feb. 12 from 1 to 4 p.m. so parents and students can learn more.

 

The Summer Minds is not your average camp.

The academic summer program at , led by teachers Colette Weber and Melaina Mirarchi, aims to immerse students in a thought-provoking environment while improving their critical thinking and public speaking skills. And all of this is happening while the kids are having fun.

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Weber, an English teacher at George School, is the director of the private school’s academic program for incoming freshmen. “Some of the ideas we have on how to orient kids to high school, we could do for wider population,” Weber said. 

But, when developing The Summer Minds, “we didn’t want to do a typical summer school. We wanted to teach topics and do really fun interesting things.”

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Last year was the first summer the three-week program for students age 10 to 18 was held. Registration is now open for the upcoming summer.

Organizers are holding an open house Feb. 12 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the George School Library Cafe so parents and students can learn more. 

The program is split into three sessions. The week of June 18 to 22, the focus will be on the humanities. The second week, June 25 to 29, the students will study math and science. And the third week, July 9 to 14, will be dedicated to visual and performing arts. 

Each week is self-contained, so students can attend one session or all three. Students are separated into two groups -- high school prep and college prep.

Every morning, the day begins with a discussion on a current topic.

“We want to raise their thinking so they learn how to make connections and think critically,” Weber said. “One way we do that is to have common experiences in the morning and relate it to the real world. We get them to think. We want them to form opinions.”

That morning theme or topic is revisited throughout the day as the students participate in the rest of the academic activities. 

Each afternoon, the students focus on writing. “In the morning we are giving them information. In the afternoon, we give them the tools to actually make a contribution and add their own opinions.” 

Mirarchi, who is also an English teacher at George School, said the lessons are extremely creative and are designed to teach the students valuable information in a fun, interesting way.

For example, last year the students learned word roots using Harry Potter books. There was also a day dedicated to pirates, an opportunity to make parachutes, painting and drawing, ceramics, science experiments and more.

Each week culminates in the “Socrates Café” – where students do some kind of performance, whether it’s a speech, debate or presentation. The parents are invited to attend. 

“It was actually really fun for us because it was the first time I got to teach Catholic, public and private schools all together,” Mirarchi said.

For more information, attend the open house or visit www.thesummerminds.com.


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