After hours, students keep learning

Becoming a rocket scientist is certainly no easy task. But for a small group of students in District 13, they at least got a taste of a profession that epitomizes smarts.

“Rockets Away” was just one of six workshops in District 13’s first Explorations program held on May 7 at the James A. Dever School. Nearly 50 students from the district’s gifted and talented program took part in the after-school event. There was also an art class, video making tutorial, forensics workshop, legal discussion and science workshop.

In the past, students in the gifted and talented program have gone to the Conference for Kids to participate in a variety of workshops. But district officials decided not to do the field trip this year, instead putting together its own program. Each child got to attend two workshops — with pizza in between.

Lisa Sells-Asch, the assistant superintendent for special services, said every child was given a list of workshops and asked to pick three they would like to attend. Every student got their top choice.

The gifted and talented program serves 52 students in grades 4-6. Sells-Asch said 49 of them participated in Explorations, along with their parents. As she visited each room, Sells-Asch said she was impressed with how excited the children were. “They’re focused, they’re engaged,” she said. “What’s so nice is that this is after school. After a whole day of learning, they came back.”

Several of the presenters were teachers from the Valley Stream Central High School District. Two of them, Jeannette Azzaretto and Susan Piscitello-Pall, teamed up to teach “Slimy Science.” They showed children how to create slime, using a variety of ingredients, which they could then take home.

Azzaretto, chairwoman of the Science Department at South High, said that with all the testing elementary school students just went through, she was glad to bring them something fun to do. Children made slime through the experiment process, and even had to make a hypothesis.

Azzaretto noted how excited and observant the children were. “The elementary school teachers are doing a marvelous job with them,” she said. “They just wanted to dive into science. What kid doesn’t want to get messy?”

The Hon. Leonard Austin, a state Supreme Court Judge in Nassau County, led a workshop “You Be the Judge.” He talked to students about old court cases, then asked them how they would decide, before telling them the real ruling. “It was a real nice opportunity for the kids to get a sense of the court system,” he said.

In “Rockets Away,” presented the Cradle of Aviation Museum, children made actual air rockets and launched them in the gym. Malcolm Carter and Jonathan K-Val, sixth graders at Wheeler Avenue School, participated in that workshop. They said they learned about the science involved in building and fueling a rocket. “It was fun because we got to make our own little rocket,” Jonathan said.

Matthew Mazza, a Wheeler sixth grader, went to “CSI Forensics.” He said he learned how to compare fingerprints, and how to use water to figure out patterns. “It was really cool,” he said. “It was something new to try.”

For Jessica Sossi Romano, “Making Movie Magic” was her first workshop of choice. Led by District 13 technology specialist Linda Alesi, students learned how to make a movie and how to add special effects using computer software.

In Jessica’s class, it was just her and one other student. “It was especially fun,” she said, “because there weren’t a lot of kids so we got a lot of attention and got to do more hands-on activities.”

Gifted and talented teacher Richard Rosenfeld said he enjoyed watching the students interact with the presenters. He said he was particularly impressed by the high level of questions that the children were asking.

Parents gave Explorations high marks. Lauren Carter, whose son attended the rocket program, said she liked that the presenter gave a history of the rocket program and had a hands-on activity for the children as well.

Carter said she liked the variety of workshops, and appreciated how the district provided this extra learning opportunity for children. “This gives them exposure to things they normally wouldn’t get in school,” she said. “My hope is they will see something they will want to do later on. It’s never too early to be exposed to different things.”