• Unfortunately we don't have pictures from all of our Academies but we still wanted to tell you about them.

    Lit Academy - Lit Club is an Academy where students get together after school and spend an hour immersed in the classic story, “How To Eat Fried Worms.” Not only do students get “FSA ready” with engaging reading comprehension activities, but at end of the of the session, students get to make their own “fried worms.”

    Health Academy - Student learn about different sports like golf and ultimate Frisbee while learning math and science skills like measuring distances and force and motion. 

    Journalism Academy - Students work together to research a career and then interview students and teachers to learn more about that career. Then, they create a newspaper article or report to share what they've learned. 

    Sight Words Academy - This is our first year (18-19) having afterschool Academies for kindergarteners. They learned their sight words by playing BINGO. It is a fun way for students to learn their words and provide repetition opportunities in a large group setting.  It motivates students to read sight words so they can play and win the game. 

    Typing Academy - Typing Academy is an engaging and interactive experience while student's learn how to type. Typing Academy is an interactive experience with a full range of experiences from games, videos, and different typing challenges to make learning fun.

    Speech and Debate Academy - “If I went back to college again, I’d concentrate on two areas: learning to write and to speak before an audience. Nothing in life is more important than the ability to communicate effectively.” -Gerald R. Ford 

    This quote from President Ford is the heart of the Speech and Debate Academy at Parkside. Students learn to form valid arguments with relevant evidence (writing) and give and defend their point of view in a coherent, effective manner in front of their peers (public speaking).  Speaking in front of others is a universal fear (Mark Twain said there are two kinds of public speaker-the nervous and the liars!) , but I have watched a child’s life transformed as he stood up, cried and shook, but faced that fear.  He had something that he needed to say and he slayed that dragon that day to say it.  Life changed forever.