Eliza Burger

A slide from the history department’s presentation on the stage of Syufy theater. Convent students listened to a representative from each subject speak on work that can be done to keep up academic skills during the summer, both required and suggested.

Today, students gathered in Syufy theater for a presentation on summer engagement activities and academic programs. Led by faculty, students listened to a myriad of presentations highlighting required summer work as well as optional opportunities to keep up with school subjects.

“I enjoy reading in my free time, but sometimes it can be hard to feel motivated to read books for school,” freshman Lela Nachury-Reif said. “I definitely understand why the faculty want to make sure we keep up with our work over the summer though, because coming back after over two months of no school can sometimes be hard if you haven’t been doing anything academic,”

During the presentation, one of the main focuses was reading, both required and recreational, for the summer. Each grade level has both a required reading book that will be discussed in class, as well as a list of choice books that students can choose from and will do a project on, according to sacredsf.org.

“Over the summer I love to travel and spend time with my family and friends,” freshman Charlotte McGinty. “Although I think it’s important to keep up with academic work, it is equally as important to use the summer as a time to relax and take off of school duties.”

Another subject discussed was math, where students from all grade levels have math work to complete during break. According to Mathnasium, math is a subject where many students struggle to get back into after summer because it is not in your everyday life. 

In subjects like language that don’t have formal requirements, students are encouraged to use resources such as Duolingo to practice over the summer. Language is also a subject that requires constant practice with speaking, writing, reading, and listening in order to improve, according to Nachury-Reif. 

“I speak both French and German at home, and language learning definitely is hard and takes a lot of time to master,” Nachury-Reif said. “It’s always a good idea to keep practicing because it can be very easy to forget, especially if you don’t have people around you to converse with,”