As the first day of school quickly approaches, one educational program is coming to a close.
Leg-Up is a summer program designed to help students who are entering 2nd-4th grades build their knowledge through the summer. Classes take place Tuesday through Thursday mornings, and those who attend are also provided breakfast and lunch each of those days and get to play on recess together.
The Leg-Up program has just two weeks of classes left, and Heather Klaassen, assistant principal at Burcham Elementary, shared a report on the program.
“Our kids who have had regular attendance have for sure seen improvements,” Klaassen said. “That’s what is so cool about this program—we get to meet kids where they are. Some may struggle with math, but they are very high in reading. Others may struggle in reading, but they are very high in math. We’re able to meet them where they are and give them what they need, but still challenge them in the other area. It’s been really cool to watch.”
Along with reading, science and math classes, students also participate in social/ emotional learning.
“The (social/emotional learning) program is amazing. We have a curriculum called Hope Rising. It’s actually a book they turned into a curriculum. It’s all about building hope in situations where you feel hopeless. Or if you don’t know how you’re going to get passed your frustrations and persevere, it gives you all the tips and tricks. It’s kind of a toolbox to work from,” Klaassen said.
With all of the different learning subjects, students will take tests at the end of the program to see how they’ve progressed since they took the exams at the beginning of the program.
This is the inaugural summer for the educational program, and it was made possible by a grant written by SWOSU professors, most of whom were once employed by WPS. The grant is good for three years, so Leg-Up is guaranteed for another two summers.
“Southwestern really took this on. They wrote the whole grant. They got with (Weatherford Superintendent Jill) Mrs. Henderson and wrote it with her help. I think as long as the group at SWOSU in the education department is there, they’ll keep this going as long as they can. They are amazing supporters. In the last couple of months, they’ve written another two or three more grants for things around the community,” Klaassen said.
Even though SWOSU professors wrote the grant, Klaassen said WPS was part of the whole process of designing this program. “We were able to be part of pretty much all the decisions—selecting teachers, selecting teacher’s assistants, selecting students.”
In future years, Klaassen said the classes might be pushed to an earlier summer date to better accommodate to the students’ schedules. She also said administrators are considering making the program available to even more students.