For the second year, Wallace Community College Selma is hosting a Once Upon a Summer program to educate the youth while incorporating plenty of fun, physical activities.

Held from June 2 to July 18, the six-week summer camp is offered to rising third to ninth graders.

“For our children, we are living in a time where they need to be ahead. They need to enhance their education, and they need to make sure they stay on top of it,” Once Upon a Summer camp director Ebony Rose said. “It’s never too early to start with them.”

Funded through the required fees, the summer camp teaches the students reading, wring, math, English and other subject material from the next grade level they will be in next academic year while following the Common Core standards, community education coordinator Tammy Helms said.

The teachers and counselors hired include Selma City School teachers, Ameri Corp workers and more, Helms said.

In an effort to make the experience fun, the teachers inject exciting, physical activities into the classroom curriculum.

For example, fifth grade Meadowview Elementary School teacher Alicia Sameson has added “brain breaks” to her curriculum. For about five to 10 minutes three times a day, the students get a chance do physical activities, such as running, jumping, jogging and stretching in place.

“I know that children get kind of antsy,” Sameson said. “We want to have a good time while we’re learning.”

Desiree Robertson, who is advancing to the fifth grade in the fall, said the “brain breaks” are her favorite part about the camp.

“We get to move around instead of sitting in our seats all the time,” Robertson said.

Fifth grade Meadowview Elementary School teacher Rita Carmichael said the Once Upon a Summer program is a great way to ensure the children do not forget the vital information they learned during the fall and spring semester of the academic school year.

“We have to do the learning thing, because they miss so much during the summer,” Carmichael said. “If they were not here doing this program, a lot of them would just be at home or just doing games online.”

The classes will be held Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to noon.

The registration fee for the camp is $50.

The weekly fee is $70 for one child and $60 more weekly to add additional participants.

The college is still accepting participants.

To register, visit the cashier’s office found in the WCCS Student Center, which is located across from the Barnes and Nobles bookstore. For more information about the camp, call Helms at 876-9412.