Sarah Vetorino with a pot she made for her Cool Clay Creations class.

Last week 260 students from local elementary and middle schools spent two hours each day going beyond traditional classroom curriculum by diving into topics that piqued their individual interests. (Photographs and video interviews included.)

Shelbi Moore with a shark model she made. The model won Shelbi a prize.

The only other requirement was an eagerness to learn, Ben Logan Gifted Coordinator Sally Stolly said.

Watch comments from Stolly. 

Stolly, Gifted Coordinators Debbie Ellis and Sara Stahler at Bellefontaine City Schools and Jen Frederick at the Logan County Educational Service Center coordinated the academy in cooperation with Indian Lake and Riverside Local Schools.

Shelbi Moore, a soon-to-be fourth-grader at Graham Elementary, was a student in Bruce Smith's Shark and Yellow Perch Dissection: Comparative Anatomy class. She won a prize for a shark model she made.

Watch comments from Shelbi.

Sarah Vetorino will be a sixth-grader at Bellefontaine Middle School. She learned how to make pottery in a class called Cool Clay Creations.

Watch comments from Sarah.

David Headings, a high school music teacher at Upper Sandusky, taught Jazz It Up! for his first year as an instructor at the Summer Enrichment Academy. The class focused on the vocal skills required to sing jazz music. He says the students made a lot of progress.

Watch comments from Headings.

Performers with ArcheDream for HUMANKIND form the likeness of an elephant with their bodies.

A few students even learned to break dance at a workshop with ArcheDream for HUMANKIND following the performance.

Ben Logan fifth-grader Jack Robinson says he enjoyed the show.

Watch comments from Jack.

Planning has already begun for next year's Summer Enrichment Academy. For more information, contact the Gifted Coordinators at Bellefontaine City Schools, Benjamin Logan Local Schools or the Logan County ESC.