On January 22, 2021, the Tennessee General Assembly enacted the Tennessee Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act (SB 7002/HB 7004) to address the learning loss of students due to COVID-19-related school closures. Through this new law, all school districts in Tennessee are offering learning loss remediation summer programs for students in grades K-8, during June 2022.
Programming for Wayne County began June 2nd. The Summer Learning Camps provide six hours of daily programming. Daily programming includes at least one hour of reading and one hour of math instruction daily. One hour of intervention and one hour of physical activity are also included in the schedule.
Students entering grades 1- 8 are attending Learning Loss and/or Bridge camps five days a week. All students participate in one hour of STREAM programming which is built into the daily schedule. Instruction for this hour is made up of STREAM (science, technology, reading, engineering, arts, math) activities.
The Wayne County school district made its best effort to recruit students. Teacher-to-student ratios has been established at a maximum of 10 to 1, going beyond the state-recommended 20 to 1. Many of the classroom sizes are at 1 to 8 making instruction much more beneficial to the students. Beyond the foundational reading and math instruction, Wayne County students are participating in writing workshops and other text-rich experiences. They will also be involved in field trips and other experiences that build background knowledge.
The Wayne County program is titled “A World of Possibilities!” During camps, students will be involved in exploring the world around them. They will dig deep into environments, geography, and culture. Classes will look toward answering the questions, “What makes places unique and different?” It is the vision of Wayne County Schools to address student learning loss and accelerate learning with rigorous foundational skills while instilling students with the curiosity to explore the world of possibilities that exist through text-rich experiences.
During the first ten days of camp, students explored environments, including wildlife, resources, and landforms. They planted seeds, observed the chrysalis of caterpillars, and created birdhouses with Wayne County 4-H.
Another student experience was to visit the Wayne County Technology Center. Students toured the facility and were taught about the programs offered there. Schools across the county had various visitors with technical careers. These experiences exposed students to career possibilities in the technical field.
