‘It really is rewarding when you teach a child something’

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  • Charlie Null pours water into a jar during a science experiement, while Karola Sikes, Savannah Daniel and Olivia Saunders watch. Josh Jennings/WDN
  • Benjamin Sikes is teaching students Gracelyn McCune, Jaxson Se, Logan Rogers and Baylee Davis about math with fun activities which include counting and cutting the paper with scissors. Josh Jennings/WDN
  • Karola Sites is showing students Charlie Null, Savannah Daniel and Olivia Saunders how to make rain out of shaving cream and food coloring. Josh Jennings/WDN
  • Above, Mandi Cornelius shows teaching students Dani Boelte and Quinn Allard phonics and reading them a book. Josh Jennings/WDN
  • At left, Jordan Pitman shows students Daniella Cornelius, Pippa Bluth and Parker Payne how to make peanut butter play dough. Josh Jennings/WDN
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Karola Sikes said working with children and watching them learn and grow up really motivates her as a person.

“It really is rewarding when you teach a child something and they learn it,” Sikes said. “It gives me such great excitement and energy because it is exciting when they discover new things. Last year, some of these kids did not know how to write, but at the end of the year, they were writing letters and were reading words. It is just so awesome.”

Sikes and her husband Jeff Sikes started a program called the summer bridge program for Pre-k, kindergarten and first grade for kids in the summer at the Weatherford Church of the Nazarene. They are both pastors at the church.

“Parents were telling me their kids were doing so well during the school year, but they were afraid of their children forgetting what they learned during the summer,” Sikes said. “I thought we could do something about this to bridge the gap during the summer and this is our second year doing this.”

Last year, it was just for kids who completed Prek and there only were 10 students. This year, they expanded it to kids who have completed Pre-k and kindergarten. The bridge program is 5 weeks and the kids meet at the church two days a week, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.Tuesday’s and Thursday’s. Sikes said she hopes this program keeps growing and they hope to get up to 60 kids.

“We wanted to do shorter hours because we did not want the kids to feel like it was school again,” Sikes said. “We just wanted to give the ability for kids to retain what they learned during the school year, but at the same time, allow them to have fun while doing so.”

Sikes is from Germany and she said when she was in Germany, she joined a traveling drama group called Covenant Players. She traveled with them to the states and she met her husband, who is from Phoenix.

Sikes has been in education a long time said she learned while working with kids they have an incredible imagination.

“It is exciting to see what these kids can accomplish,” Sikes said. “The kids do not have these perceived notions we as adults do. They accept everyone as they are and they do not judge each other.”

The bridge program teaches art, math, fitness, science and phonics and Sikes has some help with teaching. Mandi Cornelius teaches phonics, Jodran Pittman and Bethany Hill teach art, Benjamin Sikes teaches math and Jeff Sikes teaches fitness. Karla Kibbe and Beaty Weichel make lunch and snacks for the kids. The kids do fun activities such as science experiments and playing with Play Dough.

“We really enjoy teaching the kids,” Sikes said. “I hope our kids enjoy this program and I hope we continue to grow and I hope we get to keep doing this.”

For more information on the program, contact Karola Sikes, (580) 890-9466.