In the case of virtual summer school, each Boys &amp; Girls Club in Beaufort County — Beaufort, Bluffton, Hilton Head Island and Sheldon — offers Compass Learning thanks to a partnership with the Beaufort County School District.
“This partnership with the school district has helped even the academic playing field for our club members, for different parts of the county and for clubs that have fewer resources,”  Chris Protz, executive director for the Boys &amp; Girls Clubs of the Lowcountry, said.

[caption id="attachment_7555" align="alignleft" width="300"]<a href="http://www.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/BGCLC.XzavierBryan.VirtualSummerSchool.Sheldon.072012.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-7555" title="BGCLC.XzavierBryan.VirtualSummerSchool.Sheldon.072012" src="http://www.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/BGCLC.XzavierBryan.VirtualSummerSchool.Sheldon.072012-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" /></a> Xzavier Bryan, 12, works on the computer at the Sheldon Boys &amp; Girls Club. For Xzavier, 50 hours of class work are just another part of his summer.[/caption]

Club members at the Boys &amp; Girls Club of Sheldon are in a one-room building that is owned by Beaufort County. Protz said the partnership with the school district included loaning 14 computers to the Sheldon club. Without the use of these computers, Protz said, the Sheldon club would not have the resources to offer the program.

Xzavier Bryan, 12, of Sheldon, wants to be an architect when he grows up but for now, his “x” and “y” intercepts with math slopes are causing him difficulty.
At the Sheldon Club, each student practices their assignments for 1.5 hours a day.  For Xzavier, these 50 hours of class work are just another part of his summer.
“It’s nice because I won’t lose all the memory as I go into the next school year,” Bryan said. “It’s like a class, just another learning experience.  I don’t see this as a chore, just another summer activity.”
Debry Thompson, unit director at the Boys &amp; Girls Club of Sheldon, said, “A lot of the members here are being raised by their grandparents or parents who aren’t educated. This virtual learning program helps our students and our region keep pace with others.”
“We are thankful for this partnership for several reasons,” Protz said. “The most important one is our county’s students are getting the boost they need so they can move forward academically, in their own confidence and in their lives.”
In addition to the school district loaning 14 computers to the Boys &amp; Girls Club of Sheldon, it also loaned 20 computers to the Boys &amp; Girls Club of Beaufort. The district also provides part-time staff members to each club location to help administer and evaluate the program.
Compass Learning:  The Basic
Each student in the Compass Learning program has a username and password.  Once logged into the program, each student has a lesson plan tailored for his or her skills in math and language arts.  The program offers lessons, exercises and tests for each module. Once a student passes each lesson, he or she can advance to the next lesson.  The program includes earphones so the students can hear a virtual teacher instructing the lessons.
For more information regarding the program, please contact Cory Tressler, Director of Virtual Learning for the Beaufort County School District.