Students get hands-on, interactive learning at Saturday Academy

It was all about hands-on learning, enrichment and fun for Freeport students in kindergarten to fifth grade participating in Freeport Public Schools’ Saturday Academy. The 10-week program, which partnered with instructors from the Cradle of Aviation Museum and Molloy College, was designed to provide students with additional instructional math support through interactive learning activities.

Students learned through STEM activities that incorporated real-world critical thinking and problem-solving skills by working on challenging puzzles, using Legos to build robots and creating marble runs with cardboard tubes. The program also used supplemental, computer-based programs including Spatial Temporal Math (ST-Math) to enhance students’ reasoning abilities to solve mathematical problems.

“The goal of the Saturday Academy was to deliver fun, and engaging mathematics activities for some of our K–5 students to help them maximize their understanding of math,” said Dr. Anthony Murray, director of mathematics. “Through the Saturday Academy, we not only enriched their learning from their weekly classroom lessons, but also helped to show them that math skills can help solve many of the day-to-day problems that occur at every age.”

The program was held at Bayview Avenue Elementary School and was taught by Freeport Public School teachers and support staff, as well as partners from the Cradle of Aviation Museum and Molloy College.