Programs provide fun, educational activities
Although the school year is over, the educational activities at the Putnam County Charter School System did not come to an end. The Summer Inspiration Program, launched June 6, offers a variety of camps providing its students with a plethora of activities to continue their intellectual and social development.
“I love doing the Summer Inspiration camp,” said Janice Hurt, the author and the facilitator of the Crafty Science Experiments camp at Putnam County Elementary School. Hurt is a retired educator of 38 years, who returned to the work force part-time.
“I love science. I’ve always had a joy of science,” said Hurt. “I came up with an idea of this camp because a lot of children love slime. In this camp, we are going to be making different kinds of slime each week. We make slime and lots of different activities.”
On June 6, the children did three science experiments. The first one was a liquid star slime followed by the tornado in a jar and concluded with a rain cloud science experiment.
“I liked doing the slime one,” said fifth-grader Allyssa Mays. “I learned how to do the tornado thing.” “I liked the slime and the tornado,” said fourth-grader Landen Simmons. “I learned how to make star slime,” said second-grader Ava Watkins.
The tornado in a jar was made by mixing water, vinegar, food coloring, glitter and shaving cream. After combining all the ingredients and closing the lid securely, the jar was twisted so the water in it swirled, forming a vortex resembling a tornado in its center. The ingredients of the rain cloud experiment included the shaving cream, blue food coloring and water mixed in plastic water bottles. The science behind it is that gravity pulls the water droplets down as raindrops when they get heavy enough, and the children learn how it rains.
Summer Inspiration camps involve Putnam County Primary, Elementary and Middle Schools. The program will continue for six weeks, with a weekly break for the Independence Day, and runs Monday through Thursday.