Thursday, October 1, 2026
While many children spend their summers at camp, Uniondale students are spending theirs building robots and creating art projects tied to science, writing and poetry.
Those activities are part of the Uniondale school district’s summer Passport to Innovation, a free five-week enrichment program that blends academics with hands-on projects designed to make learning feel more like camp than a classroom.
“We don’t call it summer school,” Superintendent Monique Darrisaw-Akil said. “Not everyone can afford camps, swimming courses and all those programs. We want children of all economic backgrounds to have that opportunity.”
Now in its fifth year, Passport to Innovation serves 377 students. Middle-schoolers focus on coding, while elementary students take part in project-based lessons that blend literacy, math, STEM, art and real-world experiences.
Darrisaw-Akil added that the program is important for the summer, because children’s minds are still active, and teachers want to find a way to continue to incorporate education. The district is using practical, hands-on projects in literacy and math, “so kids don’t feel like they got punished.”
California Avenue Elementary School hosted 170 rising pre-K to fifth-graders for the program, and each classroom had unique projects based on their grade level.
Rhonda Taylor, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, incorporated the word “passport” because she wanted students to feel as if they were traveling around the world. “Some kids don’t have the opportunity to be able to travel during the summer,” she said.
“Science is one of the things we really want them to explore,” Taylor added of the elementary students. “But not necessarily in the same way that they do it during the school year. We want this to be something that’s a little different.”
In one room, students used science to transform balloons into papier-mache planets as part of an informational writing lesson focusing on exploring.
“One of our core values is explore, so we thought we would explore planets,” Michelle Minnelli, California Avenue’s assistant principal and the programs co-coordinator, said. Minnelli worked closely with her co-coordinator, Assistant Principal Natasha Garrett.
After researching their planet of choice, the students created models that complemented informational writing projects about the solar system.
Kristen Andino Rodriguez, a rising third-grader, chose Earth as her choice of planet because “people live on Earth, and I’m grateful I’m living here,” she said confidently.
“The children are picking a planet of their choice or the sun after learning a little bit about the solar system,” teacher Phyllis Halper said. “We did a little background knowledge, a little bit of research, and this will then connect to their informational writing piece.
“A lot of them chose the sun — even though it’s not a planet,” she laughed.
Cleveland Sterling., another rising third-grader, was one of them. “I learned that the sun is very hot,” he said. “I see the sun every day — it’s hotter than I thought.”
Halper explained that the program is not only good for education, but for bonding, and learning English as a second language.
“This is helpful, because some girls here don’t have the words, but they’re really learning.” she said, pointing to one student who was motivated to answer a question confidently, in English. “They came in knowing English, but they were emerging.”
A few doors down, Northern Parkway School English and literacy teacher Monique St. Clair-Thomas was guiding little scientists in how to build their own stationary robots. The hands-on STEM activity encouraged children to use boxes, aluminum foil, googly eyes, string and other materials to create unique robotic designs while exploring creativity and basic engineering concepts.
“Every year we keep the same book — however, the teacher chooses what to do,” Minnelli said. “Ms. St. Clair-Thomas — that was her choice to make the robots. She had the kids bring in the materials, but someone else could have went a very different route.”
In a third classroom down the hall, students sat quietly and listened to California Avenue teacher Diana Jackson explain the story of “Counting on Katherine,” by Helaine Becker. Students were practicing reading comprehension while discussing perseverance, overcoming challenges and following their dreams.
Field trips are an added benefit of the program. This year students visited the Long Island Children’s Museum, in Uniondale, and the Center for Science Teaching and Learning, in Rockville Centre.
“The children’s museum is always a great place for them to go because it’s right here in their backyard,” Taylor said. “There’s always a fun trip.”
Students begin each day with a “genius meeting,” where they gather as a group before heading to their classes.
Families are also invited to see what students have learned at the end of the program, while community partners including the Uniondale Public Library and Cornell University Extension contribute programming focused on literacy and healthy eating.
“I’m impressed and inspired that teachers do so much during the school year and then come here and say, ‘I have something else to give,” Darrisaw-Akil said. “They’re planning on what can they do to make this a great experience for our kids.”
