Local News: Bryan ISD Goes Green With Camp Energy

Summer School Goes Green
By Janet Phelps

From the Bryan-College Station Eagle

Don Gilman thinks middle school students might be able to give school administrators some advice on how to make their schools more "green," he said this week.

Congress and the president are encouraging school districts to become more energy-efficient and academically challenging, Gilman said.

So why not do both at the same time?

Gilman, an assistant research engineer with the Texas Engineering Experiment Station, developed the idea for Camp Energy, a "pre-pilot" summer program that Bryan school officials are offering to students in June. The idea is to teach students to make buildings more energy-efficient.

Once district officials agreed to the idea, Gilman started fundraising. He's raked in more than $1,300 so the class can be offered free to students.

Gilman said he hoped students would gain a new understanding of and excitement about energy.

"We hope they look at every building they walk into with a better understanding of the 'how' and the 'why,'" he said. "Our whole society runs on energy. It's the core of everything."

Camp Energy is one of several enrichment programs Bryan school officials will offer this summer. Sign-up for the programs begins this week.

Frances McArthur, Bryan schools assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, said officials wanted to do something to relieve the extra burden placed on parents by the Optional Flexible Year Program.

The program, which was approved by school trustees this year, allows successful students to get out of school 10 days earlier than low-performing or at-risk students.

The school year will be shortened by seven days to mid-May for some students and extended by three days until June 3 for others, based on attendance, state test scores and grades.

It's a great program, McArthur said, because students who need extra help will have intensive instructional days with a lower student-to-teacher ratio.

"But we're concerned about working parents having to pay for child care those seven days that we're providing intervention to our children who need extra help," she said. "It's a major concern, and that's one of the major reasons we've never taken advantage [of it] in the past. We're just very conscious of any financial burden this may cause to our working parents."

Parents who have to pay for child care or take off work because their children don't qualify for the program can send students to academies such as Camp Energy in June to relieve the extra burden, McArthur said.

A math academy, a transition class for incoming sixth-graders and Camp Invention, which is in its sixth year, will also be offered through the program this summer. McArthur said she also hoped to offer a music academy.

Some programs will be free, depending on available funding, McArthur said.

It's still school, McArthur admits reluctantly, but it's fun school.

District kindergarten through eighth-grade math coordinator Mary Russ said the math academy for elementary school students would include hands-on activities, such as measuring the density and sugar content of gum after they chew it.

"So often, our summer school is targeted for kids who need more help, so this is our opportunity to really challenge those children who already have the skills they need. We're just going to make them richer and deeper," she said.

McArthur said teachers would begin sending sign-up fliers home with students to their parents this week.

If individuals or companies wish to help out with the classes or donate money, McArthur said the district can offer even more programs.

"We'd love to work with any community member who has suggestions and ideas for these enrichment academies, and we always welcome donations," she said.

To contact McArthur, send an e-mail to fmcarthu@bryanisd.org.

Published Sunday, March 22, 2009