Thursday marked the last day of the 2022 Windsor Strong Academy as students presented their final projects to families and fellow students.
During the past four weeks, students have learned about civic knowledge, social media etiquette, career paths, what makes strong communities, and more. Thursday’s presentations included students’ resumes and mock Instagram posts about their future selves that reflect qualities of civic readiness and how they make their future selves inclusive in their community.
“I learned how to believe in your community better,” said student Grady Leonard. “I like the ag work we did. We planted, harvested, learned how plants grow, if we saw a plant was sick, we learned what was wrong with it.”
“It taught me how to socialize. I made a lot more friends,” said student Alanna Jones. “I don’t have a favorite part. I liked it all.”
Some of the activities the students took part in included working at the WCHS land lab, exploring downtown Binghamton, and hearing from guest speakers.
“I hope they have a stronger connection to Windsor and the greater Windsor area. I hope they enjoyed the camaraderie we had when we were here. I hope they have a sense of what civic readiness means and ways they can be involved in their community,” said middle school counselor Andrea White.
Students weren’t the only ones to learn more about themselves and what they want to do in the future. The experience was impactful on the high school mentors as well.
“It was great. Just being able to help all the kids. It helped me realize I want to go into teaching now, so I’ll take all of the education classes in school,” said incoming WCHS senior Andrea Medovich. “Helping younger kids is what it’s all about, helping them be ready for the future.
Elsewhere in the Windsor summer program Thursday, strongman Bill Clark finished his circuit of Windsor’s three elementary schools Wednesday, speaking to children at Palmer. Clark is a former world champion powerlifter who has set over 100 state, national, and world records in strength and power sports.
He shared lessons learned from his athletic career, including the importance of discipline, to encourage the students to pursue excellence. Rowdy, the mascot for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, stopped by the program to meet with all the children, give high fives, and brighten everyone's day.
Softball, baseball, and lacrosse camps ended Thursday. Softball and girls lacrosse players enjoyed a day full of water games and time in the pool. Boys lacrosse players enjoyed skills games on the field, while baseball players held a whiffle-ball tournament in the gym.
Bowling and field hockey camps begin on Monday to start the final week of the 2022 Windsor CSD summer program.