Reporter: Ellie Mahan
June 14, 2023
Whitney’s Afterschool Centers on Education (ACE) program is hosting a summer camp for Whitney ISD students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Forty-five students are enrolled in the camp, which began Tuesday, May 30 and will continue until Thursday, June 29. The young Wildcats meet four days a week at Whitney Intermediate School for learning and engaging activities, and the group takes weekly field trips. The camp is provided at no charge, with the participants being supplied with free breakfast and lunch through the Summer Food Service Program in place at Whitney ISD.
A hands-on program that is held after school during the school year, ACE seeks to serve students and their families through a safe learning space. At ACE, students deepen their understanding of core school subjects and STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), choose personal interests to explore and develop skills for a successful future. ACE focuses on administering each individual student with what they need to learn, grow and succeed.
Students in the ACE summer camp are strengthening their math and reading skills and exploring other topics, including: gardening, using microscopes, art, fingerprinting, photography, scrapbooking, NASA, science activities, baking, and decorating cookies and double-layered cakes.
By the end of the summer camp, ACE students will have made field trips to the Mayborn Museum in Waco, the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, the Texas Rangers Museum in Waco, an American Ninja Warrior obstacle course in Waco and a science and history museum.
At the American Ninja Warrior obstacle course, a TV show competitor will give a motivational speech about the pivotal role that hard work plays in success. Following the speech, the children will be free to try their hand at the obstacle course.
Field trips are completely paid for by ACE, with students being transported by bus and provided with a picnic lunch.
Throughout the school year, the ACE program lasts from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. If ACE students are behind on classwork, they work individually with a tutor; then after they finish, they are allowed to participate in fun activities with their peers.
ACE also promotes good behavior by not permitting students who are serving in detention to attend ACE. Attendance to the afterschool program averaged 80 students during the 2022-2023 school year.
Cynthia Ries, Whitney ACE site coordinator, has been leading the program for four years. Ries spent 29 years in the education field, teaching at schools in the north Dallas region, the El Paso area, south Texas and near Waco. After three years of retirement, Ries was eager to work with children again. She enjoys the freedom of teaching enrichment courses that motivate children to learn. She has heard from parents who said that their children have grown academically due to the ACE program building on concepts learned in the classroom.
The number of participants in the ACE summer camp has more than doubled since last year, with last year’s participation ranging from eight to 16 students daily. This year, there are three groups of 15 students enrolled and a total of four teachers, a high school volunteer and a middle school volunteer.
Ries said, “I think it is important to the community. It provides the parents with a free, safe place for the kids to go after school and in the summertime, where they get fed. On top of that, it also creates a network that includes the school as well as the parents as well as the kids. You become a big family that is working together to get these kids to where they need to be.”
Ries strives to maintain open lines of communication with parents, through a text system called Remind 101 and through Facebook updates. Ries emphasized the importance of involving the parents in the program so that the children can see their parents invested in their education, which could inspire an excitement for learning that can be carried into the classroom.
Ries said, “When we have family events, kids get to spend time with their parents and create memories.” During the last week of summer camp, the children’s photography, artwork, paintings and other creations will be showcased in a celebration with parents.
Texas ACE is federally funded through 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) and administered on the state level by TEA.
Through its competitively funded grants, Texas ACE operates more than 700 learning centers in more than 140 school districts and employs thousands of Texas teachers. The program is intended to assist with homework, lead students in youth development projects and build character, confidence and leadership skills.
Many students attending a Texas ACE program for more than 30 days experience measurable improvements, such as increased grade promotion, fewer absences, improved grades and fewer disciplinary incidents.
For updates on the latest field trips and activities hosted by ACE, visit the Facebook page titled Whitney ISD ACE Cycle 10 Program.
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