During a recent Board of Education meeting, Josh Tedone, Clymer elementary school principal, discussed a new summer camp that will be available to all district students in kindergarten through sixth grades. The literacy camp would be held Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays starting around the second week of July.

In response to a comment about how children may not want to participate if it is titled a “literacy camp,” the board said more students may be likely to participate if the camp is billed as a camp that involves engaging skills other than just reading. Hands-on literacy programs would be part of the camp as would science, technology, engineering and math activities.

Board members and Tedone said it will be important for the camp to be different from simply attending school or students won’t want to attend.

“My vision for it, I like the idea of a weekly, themed STEAM activity,” Tedone said. “That’s part of my plan. I think that would be easy to follow, it would be easy to identify what we’re doing throughout the week. … It won’t be as successful as it needs to be if it’s not engaging.”

Tedone said an email has been sent to staff members, with some teachers already expressing an interest in both working at the camp and in being a coordinator. The camp would take the place of required summer school for students who need extra help, Tedone said, in place of a program that allows children to make up some of the time they lost to the COVID-19 pandemic while also having fun with activities planned by the district and the town recreation program.

“Beth and I discussed this a lot, of having it open to anyone who’s interested as opposed to students who were nominated,” Tedone said.

In addition to encouraging participation rather than mandating it, making the program open to everyone may allow the district to offer free meals over the summer. Clymer at one time had a program where the school cafeteria would be open in the summer and any child up to 18 years of age could come in and get a lunch.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced a national extension of several waivers that allow all children to continue to receive nutritious meals this summer when schools are out of session.

These flexibilities are now available through Sept. 30, 2021. Those waivers may allow the district to partner with the town recreation program to make meals more available to Clymer residents this summer.

“My experience with this waiver is that once you make it open to everyone that, yes, it could qualify for anyone under 18,” said Beth Olson, district superintendent. “But I will get that verified. … With those types of programs we’re trying to look if you can get a meal and then a snack.”

Tedone said he is hoping to teachers will staff the program voluntarily and that initial results have been good. Ed Mulkearn, board president, asked if the district was looking at grants to help pay for the teachers who would participate.

“We already had it built into our title grant,” Olson said. “All of the federal money that is coming our way regarding COVID right now, there is sort of an umbrella that we need to use 20% to cover learning loss and this would cover that.”

In other news, Tedone spoke about Clymer’s partnership with the Audubon Community Nature Center. ACNC officials visited Clymer in early April to teach students about habitats, the first visit ACNC officials had made to a school classroom in more than a year. Kindergarten, first- and second-graders will take a trip to the Audubon later this school year.

“Seeing the buy-in for the effectiveness of STEAM and science instruction across the building was really wonderful,” Tedone said. “We’re going to continue to foster this partnership next school year as we’re signed up for this service again.”

Tedone said the Audubon program has also made him think about how to foster the love of nature and science he saw during the Audubon visit throughout a child’s tenure at Clymer Central School.

“Every child who comes to Clymer or another elementary school has a desire to love nature and I think to learn to think like a scientist,” he said. “How do we work to keep that energy and interest and kindness intact, if you will, before they leave us? Because I don’t always think our seniors feel the same way. There’s something special about kids being outside.”