By Gerri Miller
Elmore/Autauga News Staff Writer
Students at Prattville Junior High School (PJHS) have learned about everything from robotics to forensics during five different weeks of summer enrichment classes which end tomorrow.
Program Director Angie Lane said 130 students signed up for the program and that the teachers have been just as excited as the students to participate in the hands-one learning classes.
PJHS Principal Janice Stockman said the new program, called “Teen Fest,” has been great for the students. “It is great to see them so excited and working with people they didn’t know before,” she said. “Eighty-percent of the program is hands-on learning.” The program has been funded with federal dollars.
Students could take two daily classes each week and each week brought new topics for them to explore.
Some of those classes included robotics, cooking, bridge building, crocheting, the Eight Wonders of the World, Fitness Fun, Forensics, Murder & Mystery, Greek mythology, Mock Legislature, badminton, painting SOLA with flowers, photography, gardening, creative writing, money management, graphic t-shirt design, art camp, and many others.
“Every class had an embedded reading and math component,” Principal Stockman said.
Her son, Carter Stockman asked to teach a robotics class and that was added to the class lineup this week. Carter Stockman, a recent graduate of Prattville High School, had nine students in his class who divided into three teams. Each team built a robot to play RoboSoccer on a miniature soccer field. He also taught programming to the students.
Kate Bibb, 14, said she has always been curious about how things work and she took the class to see if robotics would be a good for her. “It is an expanding field and I thought I would give it a try,” she said.
Willie Trammell, 13, said he likes robotics because you can make amazing things and leave your own mark by doing things no one else can do.
Another student, Ja’Qub Anthony, 12, said he has been working with robotics since elementary school and is now on the robotics team. “I love being able to code and build things,” he said.
Carter Stockman said he has been involved with robotics since eighth grade and plans to continue when he attends Auburn University in the fall. He said he will apply for a job at Southeastern Center of Robotics Research where he can continue teaching robotics. He plans on majoring in mechanical engineering.
In other classes, students learned how to take fingerprints and secure a crime scene. Officers from the Prattville Police Department taught the students and gave lectures on forensics. The students even used a life-sized dummy to make an outline at the crime scene.
In cooking class, the smell of freshly-baked cookies and bread filled the school’s hallways. The students learned how to follow recipes and even decorated their cookies with piped icing.
Master Gardeners helped the students with a garden project and students learned how to grow plants from seeds.
“If a kid came all five weeks, he or she was able to complete ten different tracks,” Principal Stockman said. “It’s been great to see so many kids pursue their interests in fun and creative ways.”
She said she plans to continue the program next summer if possible.
See more photos below
