Schools are busy places during summer months Freehold Borough pupils being offered enrichment courses BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Teacher Chris Naspo (l), Patrolman Ronnie Steppat (r) and youngsters in a Freehold Borough summer academy launch a model rocket to further their study of propulsion. FREEHOLD - Children walking into school with smiles on their faces in July may seem strange, but it happens every day in Freehold Borough. More than 180 children are enrolled in summer academies being held at the Park Avenue Elementary School. The academies cover basic skills, art, music, theater, math, science, and technology, and the goal is for the work to be meaningful and fun. Under the direction of Ronnie Dougherty and Maritza Ramirez, pupils are improving their academics and engaging in fun activities with a purpose. The program is funded by a federal grant, which provides more than $500,000 for the summer academies. The program, which is for pupils entering fourth through eighth grade, offers math/science enrichment, a language sampler, and English as a Second Language. An academic skills academy focuses on basic skills. Children can also take advantage of the art academy and the playhouse in the park academy, which offers "summer stock" to would-be actors. A sports academy is offered to help students perfect their athletic skills and the technology academy introduces students to Microsoft, PowerPoint and the Internet with an emphasis on Internet safety. The Freehold Borough Police Depart-ment is involved in the academy program. Patrolman Ronnie Steppat, who is the town's DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) officer, is working with pupils in the Freehold Borough Leaders Pro-gram. That has included a presentation by K-9 officers from the Monmouth County Sheriff's Office and first aid training. This course offers field trips to the Freehold Fire Department, the Freehold Borough Police Department, the Freehold First Aid and Emergency Squad, the Monmouth County Court House and the Monmouth County Police Academy. Kid's Concoctions is a science-based class, which encourages children to explore, create, learn and experiment. Pupils will be making invisible ink and instant volcanoes. The summer academies are held Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to noon. According to Dougherty, all students will have physical education at least once a week. Students also have one hour of academics each day regardless of what academy they are enrolled in. Breakfast and snacks are provided. New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards are followed as part of the academy program. Fun is also on the schedule. Physical education teacher Chris Naspo is having as much fun as his pupils in the math-science program. Teaching children about expanding gases and propulsion does not have to be boring and Naspo has come up with a way to make the course a learning experience with an edge. His students have been setting off rockets, some store-bought, some homemade, in order to see propulsion in action. Taking some paper towel tube "rockets" and plastic Easter eggs for nose cones, the "rockets" were mounted to store-bought engines and using electric starters, the "rockets" were propelled into the air (some of them anyhow), according to Naspo. "It's summer and it's nice to be a little more free to experiment, even with things that go over the top, something we don't have the time to do during the school year," he said. Naspo said children love the hands-on learning and the projects and said summer is the perfect time for this type of educational experience. Language arts teacher Julia Gagliardi will get to flex her acting muscles as she instructs the Playhouse in the Park program. Students will write, perform and create sets for a short play under Gagliardi's direction. The teacher said the play is an effort among her, band director Eric Gross and art instructor Tracey Tacopino. Pupils will help craft a production based on "Little Red Riding Hood." Freehold Borough School District Director of Special Programs James Cosulich heads up two programs being held at the Freehold Learning Center, Dutch Lane Road. Cosulich said one program, which has 60 pupils enrolled from prekindergarten through eighth grade, is geared to meet the needs of each child's Individual Educa-tional Program. The children receive supplemental instruction, so they do not regress over the summer, according to Cosulich. The program addresses academic, social and recreational needs. Another program has 70 prekindergarten through third grade pupils enrolled. The course is for children who will benefit from extra instruction during the summer. The four-week program addresses the needs of those students with mild learning disabilities, according to Cosulich. He said the program provides hands-on projects, plays and reading skills. Classes have between eight and 10 children. "There's no homework, and the idea is to make learning fun," he said.