Education

A collection of Silly Bandz was the hot topic among a group of youngsters at the Hi-Kee summer camp Wednesday.

Although those participants were excited about the popular rubber bands, you’d soon see that was just one of several things discussed during the day. Enrichment exercises took up a big part of their time.

The Hi-Kee camp, held at Steele Hill AME Zion Church on Charlotte Highway, began June 7 and runs through July.

Local educators are gearing up for the annual program that helps make a child’s first year of public school a little more comfortable for all involved.

Countdown to K, the state’s school transition program for rising kindergartners, kicks off this month and runs into August. Eleven kindergarten teachers in Lancaster County are participating this year.

A local educator is half a world away learning about another culture while sharing classroom strategies with fellow teachers.

Crystal Fields, the lead ESOL (English as a Second or Other Language) teacher for the Lancaster County School District, has traveled to Azerbaijan in Eurasia to complete a two-week fellowship funded through the Teaching Excellence and Achievement (TEA) U.S. teacher-exchange program.

About 400 teachers throughout the United States applied for the fellowship and 40 were selected to participate.

INDIAN LAND – Almost every seat was full as Robin Estrada dimmed the lights and began her presentation in a small classroom at Indian Land Middle School on March 9.

But the scene was a little different from the typical English class filled with 12-year-old students. Instead, almost 20 parents crammed into the classroom to hear one of five presentations at the Real Talk with Parents for Parents seminar hosted by the school.