Educational Enrichment

Your Ben Rush PTA supports many enriching activities. There are four subjects covered by it (Science, Art, Social Studies, and Math), in addition to events involving the whole school, such as assemblies, field trips, and educational visits.  Here is a sampling of what we do for your kids:

After School Classes are loved by students and parents alike! Each quarter, the Ben Rush PTA brings outside instructors to Ben Rush to teach enrichment programs before or after school hours on the school campus. These have included chess, languages, keyboarding, drama, science, and jump rope. Click here for more information about current classes.

Assemblies bring interesting visitors to speak to the students, enriching their educational experience. We have underwritten assemblies ranging from the Reptile Man, recycling, cartooning, jump rope team, and even a visit from a live cheetah.

Art Enrichment is not provided by the state or district budgets.  From canvases to paint and paintbrushes, the PTA buys art supplies to be used in the classrooms. We arrange traveling art exhibits from museums to give every student a chance to look at art in many different ways. And we manage our students' participation in the annual National PTA art competition called Reflections. 

International Night is a large evening event that celebrate the wide variety of cultures encountered among our Rush students.

Passport Club and World Explorer Society engages students every month in finding out more about the world and learning about different cultures.

Running Club is run by PTA volunteers. It offers a weekly running training session. Student runners participate in the Seattle Kids Marathon in November. Winter session will begin on Friday, January 13th. K-2 Running Club takes place on Monday afternoons and 3-6 Running Club takes place on Friday afternoons; click for more information.

Science Enrichment takes up a large portion of our enrichment budget. We pay for Nature Vision programs; an outdoor environmental science program loved by teachers and kids alike. We also manage our school's annual Science Fair which engages our students in exploring all aspects of science.

Technology Club in run by PTA volunteers and is designed for 5th and 6th graders.  Students learn programming language and write programs to control robots. Proven to increase student's confidence and skills in math, science and engineering. Parent participation is a requirement for enrollment. A new session will start in late winter. Registration form is available HERE. Contact Chris Hilbert at chrisjamie_hilbert@hotmail.com for more information.