[August 05, 2011] Teachers Give Imagination a Purpose Tweet Jun 01, 2011 (Grayson County News-Gazette - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- June is going to be all about letting Imagination Set Free for middle school students in Grayson County. For three weeks anyone in sixth through eighth grade will be able to explore their creativity and discover strengths and talents they never knew they had. Each week at the Grayson County Middle School, located on John Hill Taylor Drive in Leitchfield, will be dedicated to different learning specialties. June 13-17 is designated for robotics, technology and electricity, June 20-24 is geared toward the fine arts and June 27-30 will be a sport's camp. Twenty-First Century Director Becki Pearl and Site Coordinator Melanie Manion are heading up the Imagination Set Free program. Several volunteers have pitched in to help out with encouraging students to explore their creativity. Some of the ones who have signed up so far are Warren RECC employees, artist Larry Elmore, music teacher Teresa Jarboe, Barry Duvall and various coaches and college students. The first leg of the program will begin on June 13 at 8:30 a.m. and end at 1 p.m. on each of the five days. "The kids will be building robots," Pearl explained, "and getting on the computer programming movements of those robots. Sixth-Grade Math and Science Teacher Melanie Gallagher will be teaching the robotics' course. At some point during the week the students will take a trip to a local company that uses robotics. The group will be able to see firsthand what the robots look like and what they produce." In addition to the robotics, students will learn about electricity and snap circuits. The hands-on part of the learning experience will be creating different electrical circuits and small fans. "There are going to be 300 different things that they will be able to create throughout the week," Pearl said. "Sixth-Grade Science Teacher Karen Vanmetre will be teaching about electricity. Warren RECC will be coming over a couple days to do electricity demonstrations." The last element of the learning for June 13-17 is technology, which is going to be headed up by Seventh-Grade Language Arts Teacher Shane Decker. "Shane used to be an IT tech," Pearl explained. "He will be teaching the students how to do video presentations, Prezis Hyperlinking and Voice Overs and Blabberizing. This will allow the group to put names to pictures and describe what a purpose of a detail in a picture is. Blabberizing will allow jaws to move in a digital picture." The second week of the courses involves Art and Drama Teacher Stephanie Brey teaching the youth about the fine arts. This will take place during June 20-24 from 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. "On Friday the lobby will be turned into an art gallery to showcase all of the scholars' completed works," Pearl said. "Larry Elmore will be working with the kids a couple of days. Teresa Jarboe will be teaching music and Barry Duvall will be teaching about using computers to create customized ring tones." From June 27-30 the middle school students can take part in a sport's camp. This will include activities such as soccer, softball, tennis, football, archery and ultimate Frisbee. The beginning and ending times for this camp have not been set yet. "The kids may also have an opportunity to learn some water safety," Pearl mentioned, "and swimming during that week may be an option too. Each sport will have a different person in charge. There will be teachers, coaches and college students helping out during that week." The deadline to register for any of the courses is the week before the Imagination Set Free program begins. For more information contact Pearl by email at [email protected] or Manion at [email protected]. The two can also be reached by phone at 270-259-4175. "We have been planning this for four months," Pearl said. "It took us that long to put everything together. There will be a light breakfast and light lunch served everyday. There is no cost to join in on the fun. We will be running a shuttle service to pick up kids in large communities in the area. Any child wanting to ride the bus needs to let us know where and what time to pick them up and drop them off." The Imagination Set Free program is made possible thanks to a 21st Century Grant. To see more of the Grayson County News-Gazette, go to http://www.gcnewsgazette.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, Grayson County News-Gazette, Leitchfield, Ky. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]