Summer Center 2015

Summer Center, a long-standing annual summer tradition for the elementary school-age children of Manhasset, is always a success, and this summer was no exception. Blessed with mostly mild weather, SCOPE Manhasset Summer Center 2015 was held from July 6 to 31 at the Munsey Park School with approximately 170 registered students, along with an extensive staff of teachers, teaching assistants, and high school volunteers. At the helm of Summer Center 2015 was its new director, Dan Como, a special education science teacher at the Carle Place secondary school.
Younger students from kindergarten to second grade are assigned to specific classrooms with dedicated teachers. Each class travels to and from activities as a group. They enjoy special visits from outside instructors, including a visit from an Alley Pond Environmental Center (APEC) educator. This year’s APEC educator was Miss Bonnie, who spoke to the classes about pond ecosystems and frog metamorphosis. As very special visitors, Miss Bonnie brought Rosie the Red-eared slider turtle, Leo the Leopard frog, and Timmy the Tadpole to meet the children. Miss Bonnie encouraged the students to respect all animals, particularly those in their natural habitats.
The course selection for the older students included a wide variety of sports, crafts, and cooking classes. Mr. Como reported that the craft classes and the cooking classes—Chef Shop and Kids in the Kitchen—were extremely popular and fully subscribed. Several of the craft classes were run by Felecia Montfort, a teacher who taught art at the Shelter Rock School for 33 years and has been involved with Summer Center (in her own word) “forever.” Ms. Montfort loves coming back each summer to work with Manhasset students and looks forward to next year. For more information about Summer Center, visit the website for SCOPE Education Services at www.scopeonline.us. For more information about APEC, its website is www.alleypond.com.