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Polk County Schools is fortunate to partner with the Polk County Community Foundation in offering the fifth annual AIG Summer Seminars series in July and August 2020.

These incredible, week-long experiences are designed to challenge and engage students in a variety of topics. Students selected for participation will attend at no cost. Student numbers will be kept small to maximize instructor contact and seminar impact.

The seminars will be led by talented instructors who will employ project-based learning, Socratic seminar and other instructional techniques designed for academically gifted and high-achieving students. Polk County Schools’ upperclassmen who have participated in the Duke Talent Identification Program in past summers may assist teachers in facilitating these seminars.

If you would like to attend one of the following seminars, complete the online application or stop by Stearns Education Center (125 E Mills St in Columbus) to complete a paper application.

All applications are due by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 16.

Polk County Schools is excited to offer the following seminars for Summer 2020:

Access to Nature
Location: Harmon Field Log Cabin: Harmon Field Road, Tryon
Health and Safety Procedures: All students age 11+ will be required to wear a face mask, have temperature taken, answer health and safety guideline questions, and wash hands/use hand sanitizer upon entry to the Harmon Field Log Cabin.
Dates: July 20 – July 23
Times: Monday – Wednesday from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Description: Rising 7th, 8th & 9th graders are invited to register for this seminar, led by Elisa Flynn and Stephanie Luedi. Students will be engaged in activities focused on nature. We will be looking at the quality of water, including the Pacolet River. A day will be spent looking at interaction with organisms and food chains to identify keystone species. Plant Identification will also be part of our outdoor week as well. Students will be ending the week with a culminating activity. Students must have some swimming ability to participate in this seminar.

Alleviating Anxiety: Tools to Help De-stress to Live Your Best Life
Location: Harmon Field Log Cabin: Harmon Field Road, Tryon
Health and Safety Procedures: All students age 11+ will be required to wear a face mask, have temperature taken, answer health and safety guideline questions, and wash hands/use hand sanitizer upon entry to the Harmon Field Log Cabin.
Dates: August 3 – August 7
Time: 9:00 a.m. to noon
Description: Rising 7th, 8th & 9th graders are invited to register for this seminar, led by Jeanne Ferran. Through hikes, outdoor activities, art projects, meditation, yoga, journaling, and discussion, we will learn how to train the body and mind to alleviate anxiety. We will also learn about famous artists, inventors, and athletes and how they use stress and anxiety to their advantage. We will build confidence and learn tools to reduce stress in our personal and academic lives.

Pixel/Mosaic Art using Rubik’s Cubes
Location: Tryon Arts & Crafts School: 373 Harmon Field Road, Tryon
Health and Safety Procedures: All students will be required to wear a face mask, answer health and safety guideline questions, have their temperature taken, and wash hands/use hand sanitizer upon entry to Tryon Arts & Crafts.
Dates: August 3 – August 7
Time: 9:00 a.m. to noon
Description: Rising 4th, 5th & 6th graders are invited to register for this seminar, led by Kimberly Granville. Students will gain tenacity through individual problem solving and the use of algorithms for the Rubik’s cube. Students will engage in collaborative design to map an original mosaic after recreating a preset design. Students will use the color tiles on a cube to explore the relationship between pixels and mosaic design. Designs will be photographed and entered in a National Mosaic Design Contest in the fall.

Learn. Explore. Create.
Location: Tryon Arts & Crafts School: 373 Harmon Field Road, Tryon
Health and Safety Procedures: All students will be required to wear a face mask, answer health and safety guideline questions, have their temperature taken, and wash hands/use hand sanitizer upon entry to Tryon Arts & Crafts.
Dates: August 3 – August 7
Time: 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Description: Rising 4th, 5th, and 6th graders are invited to register for this seminar, led by Christine McGee. Participants will learn how to create stop motion videos and explore the many uses of a green screen. Students will work with the whole group, in small groups and individually to produce digital projects. Be prepared to share your ideas and exercise your problem-solving skills from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. the week of August 3 – 7 at Polk County Middle School.

Power of Code II
Location: Polk County Middle School: 321 Wolverine Trail, Mill Spring
Health and Safety Procedures: All students age 11+ will be required to wear a face mask, have temperature taken, answer health and safety guideline questions, and wash hands/use hand sanitizer upon entry to Polk County Middle School.
Dates: July 20 – July 24
Time: 9 a.m.-noon
Description: Rising 4th, 5th & 6th graders are invited to register for this seminar, led by JJ Waddell. In this seminar we will explore the Power of Coding in our world today and discover ways coding will benefit the world in the future. We will explore block coding and Java Script while playing virtual games, practice our coding skills using coding Robots, use the EV3 software to code Lego robots and explore the Lego First software to design/code a 21st Century building that would be sustainable and accessible to everyone in our community. We will showcase our work with a Friends and Family celebration! You do not want to miss this seminar!

Robotics & Engineering
Location: Polk County Middle School: 321 Wolverine Trail, Mill Spring
Health and Safety Procedures: All students age 11+ will be required to wear a face mask, have temperature taken, answer health and safety guideline questions, and wash hands/use hand sanitizer upon entry to Polk County Middle School.
Dates: August 3 – August 7
Time: 9:00 a.m. to noon
Description: Rising 4th, 5th & 6th graders are invited to register for this seminar, led by Linley Foster. Students will have the opportunity to work and become familiar with several small robots. Students will complete challenges and engineering tasks designed around these individual robots in this hands-on and engaging seminar. Students will also be introduced to coding. Snacks will be provided, so please indicate any dietary restrictions on the application.

Submitted by Polkstudents.com