IRONWOOD - In addition to family vacations, playing outside, swimming and enjoying the sunshine, Ironwood elementary students are doing homework. But instead of traditional textbooks and paper, students are using the Internet to help avoid the "summer slide," and have a little fun while learning.
According to elementary principal Nick Steinmetz, the move to create the "Ironwood Summer Challenge" website came after he and a group of teachers got together to help students avoid losing valuable information while away from school during summer break.
"With our summer school only being four weeks long, we decided to do this so the kids had something to do all summer long," Steinmetz said.
So far, the website has seen more than 2,000 hits, and features math and English assignments for students to work on.
In addition, students can answer blog questions each week on the site, allowing them to discuss their opinions on a variety of topics.
The website also features videos for kids to watch, science projects to do at home and other websites for them to check out.
"We also open the library on Thursday, so if the kids need to pick up some books, print something off or turn in assignments, they can do that," Steinmetz said.
In addition to learning, students also have the incentive of being entered into a drawing for an iPad at the end of the summer.
"They can earn points by doing the math reviews, reading every night or posting on the blog," Steinmetz said.
The goal is to continue the website into the future, and according to Steinmetz, it has been successful so far.
"All the parents and students have been really positive about it," Steinmetz said. " ... We are going to keep doing it every year."
For more information, visit ironwoodsummerchallenge.com, or call 906-932-0932.