BUENA PARK : Summer Classes Lure Students

Nine-year-old Mike Sheikh wakes up around 7 a.m., throws on his clothes, combs his hair and rushes out the door. He doesn’t want to waste one second of his precious summer vacation.

But the fourth-grader isn’t going to the beach today. His bicycle remains in the garage untouched and despite the heat, the local pool doesn’t even sound appealing. Sheikh is going to spend the day at school.

“It is fun,” said the smiling youngster clad in a dinosaur-decorated T-shirt, sneakers and shorts. “After I get home from summer school, I am bored.”

It might sound strange and something Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer would never understand, but kids in Buena Park can’t seem to get enough school.

During the past few years, enrollment in the Buena Park School District’s summer school program has skyrocketed for the simple reason that kids are interested and want to avoid some of the boredom of summer vacation.

“We have always had more youngsters sign up than we could serve,” said Assistant Supt. Sandra Barry, who coordinates the program.

This year, 425 elementary students will spend an extra month in class. Another 250 have been turned down because of lack of space. To help get as many students in as possible, classes have been added for first- and second-graders during the past few years, Barry said.

There really isn’t any magic or secret to keep the kids in school, said Principal Steve Johnson, who oversees the first- through fourth-grade program. “They (students) are here because they want to be.”

For Kyle Leopard, whose parents both work, it is a relief to get out of the house. “It is more fun here than to sit inside and watch TV,” he said.

If parents can’t take them places, the children usually aren’t allowed to venture out of the home on their own, Johnson said. This is especially true for the younger students who traditionally flock to summer school.

This year, 185 students are attending classes for the higher grades. But once they attend, most stay. This year only about 40 students have dropped out.

To keep the kids interested and coming back, a subtle balance between learning and fun is maintained. Reading, writing and arithmetic are “sneaked” in, but the kids usually don’t notice. “They really don’t see it as work,” said third-grade teacher Jennifer Peterson, whose class is studying Hawaii.

In class, kids make medieval armor out of cardboard or learn how to speak Hawaiian, teachers say, but what the children don’t realize is that they are learning in the process.

A few “extras” also are thrown in, including a visit from a clown, a hot-air balloon demonstration, a trip to the Orange County Fair, and a decidedly “rad” selection for lunch.

“There are all these ice cream bars,” said student Danny Lindros.