News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn spent Monday touring Upper Cumberland school systems to get feedback on summer learning.
Schwinn made a stop in Overton County Monday and fielded questions from school system leadership. Schwinn said that based on feedback, summer learning went well.
“I think that a lot of it is the STEM work and really focusing on science, hands-on project learning,” Schwinn said. “Lots with robotics and experiments and things like that. So that seems to be the thing that really hooks students in, as well as every student loves a raffle and loves a ticket. So those raffles for bikes and things.”
Overton County Director of Schools Donnie Holman said during Monday’s meeting that the struggle was that a lot of the students who needed summer learning camps most, were some of the more difficult students to get into the program. Schwinn said that system leaders are emphasizing the flexibility allowed in summer learning camps which let curriculum be tailored to what local students needed.
“Allow it to still be flexible, allow us to put our local stamp on it,” Schwinn said. “Really make sure that we can use funds to bring in hands-on activities. The small class sizes and small group sizes has been something that’s been really important across the state.”
Overton County School officials brought up the benefits of having funding for transportation, saying that more rural students might not have participated without the ability to use busing. Schwinn agreed that she had heard the same sentiment in other districts, as transportation being a key component to access and participation.
