Summer Learning Culminates with Year-End Showcase on Friday, July 30

SANTA ANA, Calif., July 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- 11,000 SAUSD students in unique THINK Together program will show off their knowledge, skills, projects and art creations.

EVENT:

To mark the culmination of a five-week summer enrichment program, more than 11,000 Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) students will host 44 showcase events Friday morning, July 30, 2010.  Parents and community members throughout the City of Santa Ana are encouraged to participate.

Students plan to share the skills, knowledge, activities and hands-on art projects they experienced as part of a summer learning and enrichment program offered by the non-profit THINK Together at Santa Ana's neighborhood schools. Showcases are also designated as National Summer Learning Day events.

Parents and community members are encouraged to celebrate Summer Learning Day and support students by visiting a showcase event at their neighborhood schools, and should check with their respective school to determine specific activities and times.

The students and staff at Martin Elementary School will host the media at their showcase.

WHEN:

• Media invited for a preview of Martin Elementary School's "Museum" at 10:00 a.m.  
• Students & guests will access Martin's "Museum" from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.

WHERE:

Additional Summer Program Background

Over the course of the Santa Ana's 5-week summer program, elementary school students followed lesson guides developed around the theme "A Night at the Museum."  Students learned and literally re-created the wings of a museum designed to spotlight projects and reflect their exposure to categories such as Aviation & Space, the Expeditions of Lewis & Clark, Ancient Egypt, Native American Culture and more. Lesson plans for intermediate school students followed the theme "A Walk Through Time" and learning activities revolved around film, art, fashion and music by decades.  

Throughout the 5-week program, students also received English Language Arts support from credentialed teachers designed to maintain skills often forgotten during the summer months – what some now call the "summer brain drain" or "summer slide" -- and to help students be better prepared when they start school again in the fall.

About SAUSD

Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) educates approximately 54,000 students at 63 dynamic school sites throughout the Santa Ana community. The K-12 school district is the largest in Orange County and the second largest employer in Santa Ana, with approximately 5,000 educators and staff members. Contact us at 714-558-5555, or [email protected]. For more information about our schools, visit www.sausd.us.

About THINK Together

THINK Together is one of the largest U.S. providers of academically oriented after-school programs and educational supports (early literacy, summer learning, small group tutoring, Saturday programs, etc.) offered outside the traditional school day. Using an ecosystem model of educational support, with neighborhood schools at its heart, the Santa Ana-based nonprofit serves more than 70,000 students at 225+ school sites and community centers across a five county footprint of Southern California (Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino & San Diego Counties).  THINK is an acronym: Teaching, Helping, Inspiring & Nurturing Kids.  For additional information, call 888-485-THINK or visit us at either www.THINKtogether.org or  www.facebook.com/THINKtogether.

SOURCE THINK Together