at workshop

By GENTRY HASSETT

Messenger Intern

Math, science, writing and summer fun: What do these have in common? Plenty at Troy Elementary School.

For four days this week, 120 students and 11 teachers from Troy Elementary School will be experimenting, painting, rhyming and rotating as part of a summer workshop.

Director Gloria Christian said the Title II Math/Science Workshop is a program for the enrichment students at TES as well as summer school students. The workshop schedule consists of four days with two sessions per day, 8 to 11:30 a.m. or 12:30 to 4 p.m. with students attending either the morning or afternoon session.

In the writing workshop on Monday, students used the medium of sponge painting to write their names, then used the letters of their names to describe themselves in an acrostic format.

Teacher Yvonne Smith said the exercise was designed to show the students that writing and poetry and can be fun.

In the morning science workshop, students were having fun while learning about the solar system by rotating around the sun to the 1960s novelty song "One-Eyed, One-Horned, Flying Purple People Eater."

The exercise was designed to teach the students about the rotation of the solar system planets, and about the differing lengths of distance and time the planets take to make a complete rotation around the sun.

In another classroom, students used rice to learn about volume and weight measurements. They guessed how much was in various groupings and then actually measured the rice to see who was closest to the correct answer.

Christian said she has been involved with the program for five years.

Editor’s note: Gentry Hassett, library media specialist at Pike County High School, is participating in the School-to-Work/School-to-Career internship program this summer.