Summer Adventure Camp students take a bow at matinee performance

Summer school is all about enhancing student performance.

And at La Conner Schools, student performance comes in multiple ways, shapes and forms and is not limited to pencil and paper drills.

Elementary school pupils provided a perfect example Thursday afternoon, presenting a rendition of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" before a standing room-only audience of proud family members and friends.

Superintendent Will Nelson and Braves Club Director Marlene Brenton attended. They crafted the framework for the activity oriented La Conner Schools Summer Adventure Camp program along with the recently retired Andy Wheeler.

"We had a lot of fun," teacher Alyse Sehlin said prior to the play performance, which included oral reading accompanied by student artwork. "Not everybody chose to do a speaking part, but everybody contributed to our backdrops."

Student Emmett Voorhees took particular delight in reading his lines, displaying a knack for voice inflections and delaying his delivery for emphasis. Voorhees said afterward that he's working on mastering a British accent as well.

One of the narrators, Annabelle Howell, said she likes the "camp atmosphere" in which students rotate weekly to explore different subject areas.

"Each time," she said, "we have a different way of doing stuff."

Howell said she has learned about marine life during field trips to Padilla Bay and Deception Pass.

"There's always something new to look forward to," she said.

"Each student that's enrolled can do each camp," Brenton confirmed. "We started planning for this in October and have met once a month or so since then."

Howell said summer adventure camp began the week after the July Fourth holiday. It has been a highlight of her summer.

"There are four different camps," she said. "I like it because we get to do stuff that's fun."