The Greenwood Mentoring Group might be nurturing a rocket scientist or two in its upcoming Summer of Learning program.
The five-week session for students in grades 1-6 starts on Monday at the Mentoring Center, 124 Ave. G, and will focus on math and reading enrichment, with a science and math concentration.
The program will culminate with a trip to the Stennis Space Center on July 12 and, possibly, a swing over to the beach at Biloxi.
“We have brilliant children here who can excel when given the opportunity,” said Bill Clay, Mentoring Center director.
Registration at 10:30 a.m. will kick off activities on Monday, with the bulk of the participants already associated with the center’s programs. A few spots still are open, and Clay expects around 20 participants.
Students can work on nine computers donated to the center by Drs. John and Marsha Lucas to do research in specialized subject areas, such as space science.
And all participants can expect a chance to reach beyond regular homework to hone their skills in subject areas where they may need improvement.
Clay said many students, especially the younger ones, come to the Greenwood Mentoring Center ready to take off.
“We’ve got some young children that really need to be challenged,” he said. “We’re always asking, ‘How can we keep their level of interest?’ Everything we put in front of them, they eat it up.”
Students in lower grades will meet in the afternoons from 1 to approximately 2:30 with higher grades coming in for a later afternoon session. Students are pre-tested and post-tested to measure progress. Summer of Learning instructors are Clay and longtime volunteer Linda Whittington.
From summer to summer, the focus of the enrichment session shifts. Last year, students studied the history of the civil rights movement with presentations from local movement participants and trips to significant sites including two in Alabama: the Edmund Pettus Bridge at Selma and civil rights museums in Selma and Montgomery.
This year’s trip to Stennis Space Center is designed to inspire interested students toward studies and careers in science, especially rocket science.
“We want them to understand what they have to do to prepare for a career in a field like this,” Clay said.
The center is NASA’s premier rocket-engine test location. Currently at Stennis, engineers are working on engines that will power NASA’s new Space Launch System, returning humans to deep space.
Current participants are already counting down the days, according to Clay, and everyone can expect a bonus detour to the coast, assuming all goes as planned.
“Once we leave Stennis, we’re going to run them over to Biloxi and let them play in the sand,” Clay said. “You can’t tell children about the ocean if they’ve never seen it.
“Our goal is education, education, education, but we also try to make it fun.”
All of these programs require funding and Clay invites anyone who might not have already made a donation to the Greenwood Mentoring Group this year to take the opportunity now.
Donations can be dropped off at the Mentoring Center; mailed to Greenwood Mentoring Group, 200 Ave. G, Greenwood, MS 38930; or made online through Paypal at www.facebook.com/greenwoodmentoring. Click on “donate.”
•Contact Kathryn Eastburn at 581-7235 or keastburn@gwcommonwealth.com.
