JAY — The 21st Century Kids summer program held at Spruce Mountain Middle School Monday through Thursday ended with a talent show and ice cream social July 27.

Singing, gymnastics routines and solving Rubik’s cubes were a few of the talents shared.

Franklin County Children’s Task Force in Farmington organized the summer program which did not have a theme this year, Virginia Robinson, program site coordinator noted in an email to the Livermore Falls Advertiser. “We had weekly themes: super heroes, ocean, animals, and camping.”

The activities stemmed from four categories of focus: literacy, STEAM [Science, technology, engineering, art, math], SEL [social and emotional learning], and nutrition, Robinson noted. Examples of activities for each included:

• Literacy: word puzzles/games, read aloud, dinosaur find, creative writing.

• STEAM: gardening/germination, catapults, pottery, beach ball math.

• SEL: yoga, nature walks, telephone game, follow the leader, group discussion.

• Nutrition: making healthy food, food sorts, trivia.

“We had a representative from SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] come each week to teach healthy eating habits and make a snack with the children,” Robinson wrote.

When asked about inspirational characteristics included in the talent show, she replied, “We wanted to inspire the students to become the heroes that inspire them. Each day we learned a different character trait [16 total]. Traits included courage, confidence, caring, empathy, compassion, cooperation, responsibility, perseverance, honesty, etc.”

The most rewarding experience for Robinson in her role as site coordinator was watching students apply the life lessons the program focused on. “I saw first graders encourage each other to “check your compass” [your feelings] in order to climb what we called “the ladder of success” of their emotions,” she wrote. “I saw middle school students help young primary age students with transitions and projects without being asked.

“I saw elementary students show courage and get on stage in the end to share their talents in the talent show. I also saw them having fun! Watching students grow into helpful, respectful, brave human beings and enjoying the process is very rewarding for me.”

The most challenging aspect for Robinson was staying positive during almost two weeks of rain. “Fortunately we had a wonderful program to beat the “rainy day blues!”,” she noted.

“This program has been a fantastic, affordable, local, safe, and fun opportunity for families in this community,” Robinson continued “The summer school vacation can be challenging for families in a lot of ways.

“Giving families the option of a program where their children could be cared for, fed healthy foods, have fun, grow in current skills and learn new skills, and enjoy being with their peers proved to be an invaluable resource for the RSU 73 school family.”