SHREVEPORT – Thursday’s graduates moved their tassels to the left side of their mortarboard hats as they stood on the third floor of the LSUS Noel Memorial Library.
But instead of slick black hats complete with a flowing graduation robe, these graduates made their own hats complete with their names spelled around the rim.
These second and third graders were celebrating their graduation from the LSUS School of R.O.C.K., which focuses on reading, writing and math skills designed to propel students toward participating in the turning of the tassel tradition at their high school and college graduations.
The School of R.O.C.K., which stands for Reading and Organization for Cool Kids, is in its 20th summer of assisting kids with one-on-one teaching in core areas.
“There’s something called active learning time – when your pencil is actively writing on the paper or when you’re reading aloud or doing math problems,” said Dr. Kevin Jones, the School of R.O.C.K. headmaster and director of the School Psychology Program. “A student is actively responding.
“You don’t have much time for that in school. There’s too much instruction, teaching and management – there’s only a few minutes of that in each school day. That’s what we crammed into these last three weeks.”
Nine second- and third-graders were paired with an LSUS teacher-specialist, a graduate student who is enrolled in the specialist in school psychology program. The summer school is one of the practicum experiences for graduate students as part of the three-year degree program that prepares future school psychologists to address academic and mental health challenges.
Jones said the three-week summer course packed about six months worth of active learning time, which also included six months worth of snacks, Jones joked.
But the summer school wasn’t all work and no play – the students drew pictures with sidewalk chalk, played soccer outdoors, petted dogs and took guitar lessons among other activities.
In addition to the summer School of R.O.C.K. program, LSUS offers after-school intervention for students through the Psychology Testing and Evaluation Clinic on campus.
For more information of the Specialist in School Psychology program or about the academic intervention offered in the on-campus evaluation clinic, visit lsus.edu.
