As summer school came to a close last week, some students had to “sink or swim” with their homework — literally.

Students in “Survivor Camp” had to paddle cardboard boats across a swimming pool. Only one made it.

“That was awesome,” Skylar Smutzer said after his team’s boat completed the 10-foot voyage across the swimming pool in Shadowbrook subdivision. “I knew it was going to float.”

His team’s boat was appropriately named — the “S.S. Winner.”

“Survivor Camp” for middle school students in Kearney school district ran the gamut of subjects throughout the month of June during summer school.

“A lot of it is communicating and working together,” said Chrissy Nutter, seventh-grade science teacher. “It’s a life skill a lot of them lack.”

Much like the TV show, “Survivor,” students formed “tribes” each week. Through individual and team activities, they earned beads. The team with the most beads at the end of each week was rewarded with ice cream cones from McDonalds and time to play on a Nintendo Wii or Sony PlayStation game system.

“Everything is competition based, so it makes them be more motivated,” Nutter said.

Nutter said the teachers would allow the students to argue in their teams as they reached a compromise.

“You can’t get angry, you have to work together,” Nutter said.

Among the activities throughout the month included learning about Native American history and culture. During that week the students chose Native American names for their tribes and made totem poles.

Recently, they learned about science and density. They bobbed for apples as they learned how things float and sink. Then they broke into teams of four to design and build a boat with two team members designated to row the boat. They were given one roll of duct tape and four pieces of cardboard.

For the “S.S. Winner,” the team used it all. They coated the bottom of the boat with duct tape and lined the bottom with an extra piece of cardboard for protection. For buoyancy they went with a square shape. For movement, they made the front pointed.

“We made the mast to cut through the water,” Hunter Roush said.

Others tried a canoe-style cardboard boat, but most of those sank immediately.

“I told you we should have made the name ‘Man Overboard,’” Marshall Totten said as he pulled himself out of the pool after his team’s canoe collapsed.

Totten said he knew why it didn’t work.

“Too many reasons, for one, we are horrible engineers,” Totten said. “Two, we’re not really good with duct tape. Other than that, we didn’t use much cardboard.”

Nutter said part of the class included talking about the mistakes and what the students could’ve and should’ve done to be more successful in communication and accomplishing their task.

Overall, though, the goal was to make summer school fun and educational.

“The stuff we do, they don’t realize they’re learning because it’s just a game,” Nutter said. “We don’t do a lot of pencil and paper work.”

There were more than 50 students enrolled in “Survivor Camp.” Eighth-grade algebra teacher Dan Mifflin and high school social studies teacher Chad Hopkins also helped teach the class that included students going into sixth, seventh and eighth grades in the fall.

OTHER ACTIVITIES AT SURVIVOR CAMP

- Raiders of the lost jewel — The group had to retrieve a “Lost Jewel,” but had to take it off the sand without touching it with their hands. They used plungers.

- Newspaper Fashion — Students worked as a team to decide how to dress their model with newspaper.

- Island Escape — Groups had to transfer themselves across a large open space through a series of “islands” marked by tires. Each island had specific equipment the group could use.

- Toilet Paper Mummy — Students had to use one roll of toilet paper to wrap a person in their group then put the toilet paper back on the roll neatly. The fastest group won.

- Plunger Ball — Group members had to work together to form a conveyor to transport basketballs using two pairs of poles.

- Toxic Waste Transfer — Group members formed a circle around a five-gallon bucket with ropes attached to it and transport the bucket from one terminal to another by manipulating the ropes.

Kearney Editor Kevin M. Smith can be reached at 628-6010 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .