More than 200 kids, three times the number that enrolled in 2001, are taking summer classes in Lewiston.
By Lindsay Tice
Staff Writer

LEWISTON – It is late morning on a muggy mid-summer Thursday. Across the state thousands of kids are at summer camp, sleeping late or taking trips to the lake.

But for 10 teenagers at Lewiston High School’s vocational wing, it’s the perfect day to learn how to wire a house.

Down the hall, 17 teenagers view video lessons in a comfortable computer lab, headphones on to muffle outside noise.

Upstairs, seven kids compete in a math race.

“Dude, I told you to write fast, we’re losing,” insisted 14-year-old Dustin Therriault, as his teammate filled a dusty chalkboard with scribbled notes to solve “12-(8-3).”

It’s time for summer school.

A huge need

Lewiston High School began offering summer school classes two years ago. At first, only about 60 failing freshmen trudged in to re-take a math, English or science class.

Last year, the school added an independent study program for underclassmen who needed to make up a failed course or for seniors who needed a few last credits to graduate. Using a program called Plato, the teens could work at their own pace and complete a semester’s worth of work in a few weeks.

This summer, there are math and English classes for eighth-graders who needed to polish their skills before enrolling in high school. There are math and English classes for sophomores who failed courses the first time. And there is a program to give eighth- and ninth-graders experience in various trades, including welding and landscaping, to excite them about vocational school.

“We just saw that there was a huge need for more programs,” said Tammy Thibodeau, a math teacher who oversees the summer school.

About 215 kids have signed up this year, more than three times the number that enrolled two years ago.

Dustin Therriault wasn’t happy when his parents told him he would be among those summer students.

“I was like, ‘whoa’,” he said.

Therriault’s story is a pretty typical one. An eighth-grader last year, he didn’t understand the work presented in his math class. He didn’t do well.

Landing in a summer school pre-algebra class with six other kids, Therriault wasn’t sure what to expect. What he found was surprising.

“It’s better than any school I’ve been to,” he said.

He gets more attention in the small class. With a two-hour class that’s more than twice as long as his regular class, he has more time to learn. The atmosphere is more relaxed. The teacher is “cool.”

“It’s fun when we joke around,” he said as his teacher sat in a rocking chair and called out problems for his classmates to solve during a math race.

But not every class is so much fun.

Down the hall, a teacher goes over a geometry lesson on the chalkboard. Students listen but many slump in their seats. In other classrooms, students read silently or take notes during a lecture.

Just as in their regular classes, these students must take tests, do homework and show that they understand the material before they get any credit for the course.

Experience

Most of Lewiston’s summer-schoolers dedicate four mornings a week to class because they need to, but some are doing it by choice.

In the Lewiston Regional Technical Center wing of the school, 10 freshmen boys spent two weeks welding metal, landscaping, building a shed and learning about various trades. On Thursday, as a radio blared country music in the background, the teenagers practiced wiring a house for electricity.

For their work, the students earn a half-credit. But their teacher hopes they take more than that from the program.

“What we try to do is just get them some exposure to something vocational,” said teacher Darren Hartley.

Students can join the technical center when they enter 11th grade. Give them experience beforehand, Hartley said, and they can better decide if the technical school and its various trades are right for them.

It worked for 15-year-old Brian Nason.

“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do in the long run. It gives me some good ideas,” the soon-to-be sophomore said.

Now he plans to look into welding. It’s a new interest, he said, well worth a couple of weeks of summer vacation.

“I’d just sleep all day,” he said with a grin. “I might as well do this.”

ltice@sunjournal.com