ROYAL CITY — The Royal School District was chosen for the inaugural DiscoverWorks program in Washington. The program is the work of a foundation based in Bellevue, the Ballmer Group. The Wahluke School District also was part of the initial program. 

“It was really great to have the kids engaged in some activities they don't normally get to do during the school year,” said David Andra, Royal assistant superintendent. “During the school year, we have a lot of content, a lot of requirements to fit in during the school day, so we don't necessarily get to expose kids to some of those things or to go on as many field trips. So that was probably the biggest thing from our side. We got to work in math and reading every day, and then we got to do some things that just really kept the kids engaged and coming.”  

Andra said DiscoverWorks allowed the district to extend summer school hours, which was a big help to families.  

“I heard from quite a few families that they had somewhere safe to have their kids during the day, and we actually ran it for a full eight hours, which is longer than a normal summer school day,” Andra said. “That was to accommodate working families, and I think that was really appreciated by our families.” 

DiscoverWorks was open to all K-8 students, which was a change from previous summer schools.  

“We still invited certain kids and certain families that we want to be successful and who might need that extra support," Andra said. "But it was open to everybody, and everyone had a chance to experience it." 

The program’s funding allowed RSD to offer a wide range of activities to children each afternoon.  

“That was really the beauty of this particular program," Andra said. "We did math reading every single day, but then they really wanted enrichment and field trips. We left (the enrichment classes) up to the staff that we hired and kind of what their interests and expertise were. We had rollerblading, so kids learned how to rollerblade. We had swimming and kids learned how to swim. We had tortilla making.” 

One class learned fabric printing and printed T-shirts, he said. Children had the chance to learn sports they hadn’t tried before.  

“We had little kindergarteners learning how to do a lemonade stand, and then they actually sold lemonade to other students," he said. "We had quite a few field trips, a lot of local field trips to some orchards and blueberry fields." 

The DiscoverWorks grant covered one year, but Andra said RSD will apply for a second year if they can.  

“We feel like it was very big success, and so worth it,” he said. “We’re so appreciative to the funders of this grant.” 

    A Royal summer school student shows off her artwork.
  

    Royal summer school students learn to make pizzas. Assistant Superintendent David Andra said the DiscoverWorks program allowed students to learn a wide range of different skills.