Our middle school of 405 students is located in Carpinteria, California. The thirty-five students (grades 6-8) who attend our after school program, the Expanded Learning Program, are from low-income homes and receive breakfast and lunch at school. These students need a safe place to be after school until parents can pick them up. Our ExLP is that place! We provide academic support as well as fun activities for these students to participate in. The Walking Classroom provides not only a healthy choice for their bodies, but also a healthy choice for their minds.
The Walking Classroom is utilized three times a week with groups of students listening to lessons that are not only informative but also challenging. Often these support what students are currently learning in their science and/or history classes. Students may end with a quiz or follow-up activity that checks for their understanding of podcasts content. Smaller groups of students walk off campus (to the beach-boardwalk and back to campus) if they have earned it from previous podcast quiz responses!
Students ages 11-13 would not normally choose to walk, especially at the pace they do while listening to the podcasts. Receiving The Walking Classroom has definitely given our program a BOOST this year!
Jacquelyn Geary
Program Specialist
ASES Expanded Learning
Leave a Reply