RANSON — Ranson Elementary School held its first Kinder Camp recently to help introduce students to the school.

Students gathered at the school to meet their teachers, make friends, experience what school is like and begin building a routine for the upcoming school year.

Lance Astorino, principal at Ranson Elementary, talked about how Kinder Camp was put together. Astorino wanted to create more opportunities for students and pitched the idea. After that, the teachers picked it up and ran with the project to put it together.

“The idea is that we wanted to do something different,” Astorino said. “We are the only school in the county who does something like this. It gives our students a jumpstart on the school year.”

The camp’s theme was nursery rhymes. During the three days the camp was held, they focused on different famous nursery rhymes. Each day, the students participated in STEAM activities, art projects and lessons. On Monday, they focused on “Humpty Dumpty” and did experiments with eggs, making their own egg man out of a plastic egg.

Anne Miller is a kindergarten teacher at Ranson Elementary and has been teaching for 31 years. She loves seeing students’ enthusiasm to learn and seeing the light bulb turn on as they understand something. She was excited to see all the young students come excited to learn at Kinder Camp.

“I’ve been a part of some other summer programs at the school, but this is the first time we’ve held this,” Miller said. “Even after 31 years, you still get excited for something new like this.”

During the Kinder Camp, Miller worked with Beth Lee, a STEAM teacher, Rebekah Mills, a first-grade teacher, and Emily Hudkins, the art teacher, as they guided the students to different activities and helped them feel welcome. The kids explored the school and got comfortable without the older students and crowds overwhelming them.

“They have a chance to explore their curiosity without a thousand other people around,” Miller said. “They get to explore without anyone else here. They get to look in the cafeteria and see their classrooms. And some of the students are already referring to each other as friend which is great.”

Jennifer Prusha-Hill, a third-grade teacher and parent, talked about how Kinder Camp helped her son’s nerves. Her son participated in HeadStart at T. A. Lowery Elementary and made a lot of new friends. Kinder Camp made him see that many of his friends will attend Ranson Elementary, too.

“It eases my anxiety that he will do well,” she said. “When HeadStart ended, he was sad, but now he’s excited for kindergarten.”