MONROE -- Year-round schools are on a two-week break, but nearly 300 Benton Heights students spent the first week on campus anyway.

Benton Heights Elementary offered an enrichment program this week, integrating a “wild West” theme into daily activities. Assistant principal Denise Creech said the goal was to introduce students to a culture to which they aren’t usually exposed.

Principal Mike Harvey donned a sheriff’s outfit and walked the halls with a fake badge.

“Last week, I did the merengue for the Latin dance festival,” he said. “This week, I’m doing the square dancing, so by the end of the year, I should be pretty good. I should be ready for ‘Dancing with the Stars.’”

Students spent up to six hours a day painting teepees, making crafts, cooking and meeting cowboys and square dancers. They took field trips to Latta Plantation and Reed Gold Mine.

The gold mine proved to be a favorite.

Swinging a small, black pouch by its strings, third-grader Tanya Thompson said she found an ounce of gold. Students “bought” items with the gold they found. Thompson later browsed a number of tables displaying belt buckles, beaded bracelets and homemade candles.

Second-grader Kelli Crump decided to buy popcorn instead. Swallowing one last mouthful, she explained how the older students made candles out of “bee wax.”

Like Thompson, Crump found only “one little

piece” of gold, but said the gold mine was still her favorite part of the week. Wearing a “Cowgirl Cutie” shirt, she said she also enjoyed Latta Plantation, where she got to pet horses, sheep and goats.

She also learned about teepees. “Indians live in it, and Indians, they lived far back ago and they hunt for food.”

Creech said the goal of year-round schools is to keep students’ minds engaged so they don’t forget material over holidays. The enrichment program takes it one step further.

“It’s hard to understand and comprehend things if you’ve never experienced it,” Creech said. Creech spent hours combing through literature with wild West themes and incorporating certain stories into daily activities.

Books about American Indians and living on the frontier are especially popular with elementary students, she added.

While children from other parts of the county might be exposed to horses on a daily basis, Creech said, “here, to touch a horse is amazing.”

Benton Heights is a Title I school; the majority of its students come from low-income families. Giving them firsthand experience with different cultures sharpens their comprehension skills, Creech said, and allows them to do things they might otherwise not get to do. Buses were available to take students to and from school for the program.

Harvey added that children are more likely to absorb math, reading and science skills through hands-on activities that incorporate various methods of learning. Candle-making, for example, teaches students how liquids turn to solids.

Putting that material into real-life experiences could also improve grades.

After reviewing past test scores, Harvey said it is evident that many students struggle with measuring. The enrichment program included several cooking exercises to encourage students to home in on those skills.

Fifth-graders made cornbread, butter and trail mix. Third-graders made pancakes over an indoor “campfire.” All students came together Friday afternoon to make s’mores.

Harvey said those activities are often more effective than writing math problems on a dry-erase board.

Wearing a bandana and cowboy hat, fifth-grader Antonio Castillo counted the number of people it takes to make a star formation in square dancing. Earlier, he and his classmates received lessons from the Carolina Belles and Beaus.

Marshville resident Travis Haywood taught the students how a rodeo works.

Haywood, a member of the International Professional Rodeo Association, has been in the business for five years and showed the children how to swing a lasso without getting tangled up.

Horse trainer Mark Hausman of Waxhaw was also on hand. Hausman has won three national Extreme Cowboy competitions with Woodrow, a horse that every student had to pet at least twice.

Castillo later took a seat on the gym floor to watch a lasso demonstration. As interesting as it was, he said he won’t be roping cows anytime soon.