JUST the thought of having to attend school during the summer holidays takes what’s left of the “cool” out of an already hot summer for many teenagers, who would rather be heading to the beach or partying with friends. However, for more than 90 students from four rural non-traditional high schools, summer school has never been a better idea.

The students, from Mile Gully High and May Day High in Manchester, as well as Brimmer Vale High and Islington High in St Mary, are participating in an intensive Rhodes Scholar-supported ‘boot camp’ running from July 13 to August 14, which is structured to improve their competence in mathematics and English Language.

And to them, learning has never been more fun.

“This may sound weird, but when I am here I feel like I am on cloud nine,” said Mikalya Gordon, a third-former at May Day High, who will be moving to fourth form in September.

“This will help me to progress in the future. I am doing much better in school and my teachers can testify to that!” the aspiring attorney-at-law said proudly.

“It is great,” said Dana-Lee Young, a third-year student from Mile Gully High. “I’ve been improving in maths and English and other subjects because, as you know maths and English are related to all other subjects,” she said with a big smile.

“When I entered Mile Gully High School, I had a 70 per cent average, and I now have an 80 per cent average,” the young lady continued. “So it’s been really good.”

By week two of the five-week camp, the students were already immersed in the TEACH Caribbean programme, a not-for-profit organisation established by a group of Jamaican Rhodes Scholars. The summer school is being supported by the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS), and is endorsed by the Ministry of Education.

At the camp, the students are taught by a team of local teachers and Rhodes Scholars of different nationalities, who are enrolled at Oxford University in England. The focus is on the students’ weakest areas in maths and English during the previous school year, as well as new topics they will be studying during the upcoming school year. They join the programme after completing first form and are brought back every summer until they sit the Caribbean Secondary Schools Certificate exams in grade 11.

“When I return to school in September, I’ll be ahead of the class,” said a confident Jamar Gordon of Mile Gully High. “What we learn here, anybody else who is not a part of this programme will have to learn.”

For some boys, the rigours of grammar have never been clearer. There is an insistence on speaking in English while in class and they enjoy it.

“The best part of the camp is learning how to speak English,” commented Givornie Cousins of Brimmer Vale High.

“Our teachers insist that we speak English,” chimed in another Brimmer Vale student, Tajae Downie.

“When we speak Patois they don’t respond, and speaking proper English makes me feel a lot better. It makes me feel intelligent,” continued Downie, an aspiring DJ and singer.

And the feedback and attention from their teachers means everything to these youngsters.

“In school, there are more students in the class. Therefore, when the teacher asks a question, you don’t get the time to answer because of the number of students. At camp we receive the answer to all the questions we ask,” says Lavon Clarke another Brimmer Vale High student.

Maths concepts have also become clearer to the students, particularly for those who were struggling with geometry.

“Angles became clearer after I learned that: Adjacent angles measure up to 180 degrees and quadrilaterals measure 360 degrees; and, therefore the questions were easier to read,” said Clarke.

Maths and English are foundation competencies which students need to move forward, underscores Mariame McIntosh Robinson, Rhodes scholar and conceptualiser of the TEACH Caribbean programme. However, many children continue to face serious challenges with the subjects.

“Our students, particularly in our rural institutions, do not always get the same attention as those in urban schools with similar challenges,” she acknowledged.

For Rhodes Scholars Raag Yadava from India and Helen Baxendale from Australia, it was their first experience meeting children who were excited about learning.

“The students are really receptive, and I can’t imagine them being happy to come to summer school and they are keen to learn every morning,” Helen remarked. However, she noted that although they are grasping concepts quickly, major progress needs to be made in the “use of English”.

“One of the biggest problems for the students is rote learning,” Raag observed. “The kids know the formulae, and they know exactly how to solve the questions, However, they are not sure why that’s the case. Therefore, if you take a very standard question and change a very basic fact about it, then they are completely thrown off the mark.”

“The moment you relate to things they do naturally, then they start getting a little more excited and they start understanding,” he explained.

The smaller class sizes and having the more resources makes having discourse with the students easier, local teachers noted.

“We can make it very interactive,” comments Melecia Dougherty, Head of the English Department at Mile Gully High. “I have them speak and dramatise more but we do need additional resources.”

“And we have ample time to work with them when we identify their weaknesses,” adds Annette Morris, who also teaches at Mile Gully High.

Data show that the TEACH Caribbean formula has made a significant impact on student performance at Mile Gully and May Day. Results on the Brimmer Vale and Islington students, who are doing the programme for the first time, are yet to be analysed.

Following the 2013 camp, average scores increased to 79 per cent, up from 54 per cent in maths; and to 69 per cent in English, up from 44 per cent. In 2014, maths scores increased from 30 per cent to 51 per cent; and from 50 per cent to 65 per cent in English.

“The ultimate metric will be the number of our students who achieve a pass ranging from grades one to three in maths and English when they sit the CSEC exams in 2017. Our goal is that the majority of our students must pass CSEC maths and English,” McIntosh Robinson says. “And, one day soon, we will identify a Rhodes Scholar from one of these schools,” she affirms.