The Atlanta Public Schools (APS) Xanadu summer program students put their amazing talents on display at “The Big Show” to celebrate what they learned throughout the course of the program.
The Xanadu summer program is an APS initiative for gifted and high-achieving students where students can participate in a variety of enrichment activities and take classes that they may not be exposed to during the school year or in other traditional summer programs.
“Xanadu is how you keep the learning happening through the summer in a fun and joyous way so that they’re ready come Day One in August,” Xanadu site administrator Dr. Cadence Spearman said.
The theme for this year was ‘Adventures in Atlanta,” and the students brought the theme to life with their art displays and performances during “The Big Show”.
Student art from the “Spray It, Don’t Say It” class was presented in the art gallery in the halls of the Bethune Elementary School.
Student artists in the anime class showed off their artwork depicting famous anime characters from shows like “Dragon Ball Z” and “Attack on Titan”.
And in just 15 days, the drama class put together a full-length play in which the students delivered impressive singing and dancing performances.
With the variety of classes like ‘Art Literally’, ‘Forensic Files’, ‘Join Me in Japan’, ‘EcoGarden Engineers,’ and more, Xanadu students had their pick of new and engaging classes to choose from.
“Students are taking classes like karate class, guitar, drama, gardening, and culture classes, “Dr. Spearman said. “We have Mandarin Chinese this year and all types of STEM classes and engineering classes.”
“Anything that the teachers could think of that they wanted to have the students engaged in is what Xanadu is about,” she added.
More than 400 students participated in the Xanadu summer program this year, and parents wish the program extended through July. The students are already thinking about what classes they want to take next year. “If you ever thought that you wanted to try a class, this is when you come to Xanadu,” Dr. Spearman said. “It’s all about you being exposed to something that you might not have been exposed to before. We work really hard to make sure everyone has an amazing summer.”
