While some Longview ISD students were starting their summer vacations, the pre-k and kindergarten students of the Bilingual Oral Language Development (BOLD) program were working on language and communication skills through creative application.
BOLD students were given opportunities to improve communication skills by collaborating, creating, and communicating through games, crafts, music and more. LISD offers the program for 120 hours on an abbreviated daily schedule for 20 days, which culminated in a parent program at South Ward Elementary. The BOLD students sang, danced, and presented proud parents with the skills they learned in the program.
“It is wonderful to watch these students develop and see the pride in the parents’ faces,” said Ada Duarte de Ortiz, Supervisor of Elementary Bilingual.
Ortiz also explained the BOLD was much different than summer school.
“It is an enrichment program,' she said. 'The goal is to develop oral language through many hands-on activities.”
Longview ISD Superintendent Dr. James Wilcox praised the work of Ortiz and her colleagues.
“Our district is a highly diverse one, and that is one of our greatest assets,” he said. “It’s important that initiatives like these continue to fulfil our mission of achieve excellence for all of Longview.”
Some of the daily activities for these students included problem solving and robotics, developing confidence using math building blocks, constructing simple machines to help with science skills, and developing a love for reading through literacy learning centers.
BOLD students also had the opportunity to sing, dance, act and create original artwork. This artwork was on display at the parent program.
