Some students, like Macy Fitzpatrick, a seventh grader at St. James School in Torrance, participated in one academic class and one athletic camp. She spent each morning in Spanish class and then headed to the gymnasium for a co-ed volleyball camp with varsity coach Keegan Featherstone-Felix. For Fitzpatrick, it was a nice balance that helped hone both her volleyball and academic skills during the summer months. Fitzpatrick, whose grandmother, Jan Fitzpatrick, is BMHS’ receptionist and introduced her to the program, attended the academy last year and can’t wait to get back to Bishop again next year for her third academy experience. “I think Summer Academy is so much fun and I can’t wait to come back next year. It’s one of the best parts of my summer.”
And, the students weren’t the only ones who enjoyed this year’s Summer Academy. The Bishop faculty members liked the opportunity to teach younger students. Alda Rodriguez, a BMHS Spanish teacher, used her Academy class “Fun with Spanish!” to “show the students that learning another language can be fun,” she says. “I had a wonderful time this year.” Rodriguez, along with the other Academy teachers helped the students explore a variety of subjects without the pressure of a grade or a required curriculum. “The fun of Summer Academy,” explains Math-Magicians teacher Laura Fabbri, “is that you can be creative with what you teach and how you teach it. In my math class, the students had a ball learning new card games that reinforced the computation tricks and mental shortcuts that I taught them.”
The junior high students represent over 40 schools from the South Bay and Los Angeles area. A majority of the students attend local Catholic and private schools including St. John Fisher, St. Catherine Laboure, Nativity, St. Lawrence Martyr, Riviera Hall Lutheran, and Rolling Hills Country Day, as well as public schools including Parras, Manhattan Beach, Richardson, Adams and El Segundo Middle Schools.