CARE UPDATES
SUMMER 2016
Full Day CARE
The full day summer CARE program began operating Monday June 20, 2016 at Bell Oaks School. Students were able to attend from 7:00 am to 6:00pm daily. A variety of fun activities have been in place throughout the summer to help keep the children occupied on the warm summer days. Some of these include playing with bubbles, sidewalk chalk, sand and water tables, play dough, coloring, watching movies, board games, crafts, etc... The children also participated in daily sessions of Art, Computers and Phys. Ed and many wonderful projects were created. They played with friends, inside and out, staying active and engaged while their parents worked. The children tye dyed t-shirts, decorated canvas bags to hold all the CARE belongings, watched a magic show, held roaches and millipedes from the Bug Lady, participated in a summer safety demonstration from the YMCA and even had an afternoon of bounce house fun.
This summer, the CARE program expanded the types of activities provided to include three field trips. After the first full week of summer CARE, the children ventured out to Westbrook lanes for a bowling excursion. The day included spares, strikes and a pizza party for all. There may have been a gutter ball or two, but no one seemed to mind! For the second trip, which came after the next full week of CARE, the children packed up, ordered popcorn and headed off to the movies to see Finding Dory. The boys and girls loved the movie and sharing time with their friends and teachers. A final trip is scheduled on the last Friday (August 12th) of summer CARE and will be held at Bounce U. The students are looking forward to bouncing to their hearts content and then enjoying pizza and drinks before heading back to Bell Oaks to end their summer CARE program. The children have also participated in some extra fun activities on site, which include water days with pools, slip n slides, water balloons and even the in ground sprinklers! There were also special snack days with ice cream sundae parties, an afternoon of making snow cones and the children even had the chance to make/decorate their own cupcakes and make their own ice cream cake!!
Summer CARE 2016 certainly provided a host of happy memories for the students that attended. There will be many, many great stories to share with peers and teachers when returning to school in a few short weeks.
Fun in the Sun!
Summer Enrichment Camp
The Summer Enrichment Camp has been operating since July 5th, every day, Monday to Thursday, and has had over 260 children from Kindergarten through 8th grade, participate during the 5 week program. Many children also attended before/after CARE, as well. All children had the opportunity to receive a nutritious breakfast and lunch, every day at no cost to our families.
Throughout the summer, the students have participated in many fun-filled activities including Phys. Ed, Art, Music/Drama and Arts & Crafts classes where they are learning to work together, follow directions, experience new activities and create works of art. The children also participated in language arts and math lessons through weekly themes, such as Artistic Expressions, Chemistry Magic, Makers Week, Spying/Surveillance/Secret Worlds, and All-Star Athletes Week. This allowed the children to continue to practice necessary academic concepts while having fun. Students also participated in many S.T.E.M. activities, and the 5th to 7th grade students even made prosthetic fins for a soda-bottle fish, and learned how prosthetics can be 3D printed. The children will return to school in September, well prepared for the next grade! The Summer Enrichment Camp provided our students the opportunity to stay engaged in learning while having fun with friends, staying active and reinforcing important skills.