Some students actually want to attend summer school.

For the second year, high school students from across the state eager to learn during the summer break gathered for the Texas Governor’s School at the University of North Texas.

They wrapped up three weeks of voluntary learning Friday, after they participated in classes focusing on science and technology as well as the subjects’ impact on societies and their effect on ethics, history and arts.

During the program, students studied subjects that ranged from micro- and nanotechnology to art.

Denton Record-Chronicle/Barron Ludlum

Tim Sanchez, a Denton High School teacher, was paired up with J.C. Chiao, a professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, to teach micro- and nanotechnologies in the Texas Governor’s School at the University of North Texas. The residential program, which ended this week, is for incoming high school juniors.

View larger More photos Photo store

There were 97 students this year, six of them from Denton high schools, said Ann Middleton, administrative assistant.

Of the estimated 35 staff members in the summer educational program, nine are Denton school district employees and one of them is retired from the school district.

Christian Dearman, a gifted-and-talented specialist at Strickland Middle School, served at the Texas Governor’s School as curriculum director.

Spending three weeks of her summer break working for the program is a match for her because it’s her area of interest, she said.

She said she enjoys working with students who challenge one another and their instructors in a positive way.

“It energizes me again to get back into the classroom” with some different ideas about how to reach students educationally, she said.

The education camp is “a way for students to have enrichment that doesn’t necessarily happen in the classroom,” Dearman said.

She pointed out that students get to meet and interact with their peers for critical thinking and creative problem solving.

Tim Sanchez, a physics teacher at Denton High School who is one of the summer program’s instructors, said he likes the idea of teaching to teach. He said students say they like getting to know a diverse group of students who share the common thread of learning just to learn.

For the program, secondary teachers are paired with college professors — in a way that benefits both teachers and students, Dearman said.

The classroom teachers have the pedagogical understanding of teaching high school students, while the college instructors have access to current research and knowledge in their area of specialty, Dearman said, and students have both instructors to turn to for help.

Sanchez was paired with J.C. Chiao, an electrical engineering professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, to teach micro- and nanotechnologies.

“The more I know, the easier it is to make a connection with students,” Sanchez said.

Chiao not only gives students information on the topic of the class but food for thought on how important it is to work as a team, Sanchez said.

When it comes to teaching something as abstract as nanotechnology, it’s important to attach what students are learning in class to everyday things — like cellphones, said Sanchez.

He tries to bring back to his classroom ways to show practical applications of the science.

Nanotechnology is like taking everything in a large building and putting it in one room, he said.

“If I can’t get you to understand, I’m not doing my job,” Sanchez said.

DRC/Barron Ludlum

Denton High School physics teacher Tim Sanchez, left, was paired with J.C. Chiao, an electrical engineering professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, to teach students about micro- and nanotechnologies at the Texas Governor’s School at the University of North Texas.

View larger More photos Photo store

The governor’s school isn’t the only summer program Sanchez plans to take part in.

He expects to work for the Denton school district’s Jump Start program for incoming freshmen who are considered to be at-risk students.

The district determines who may be at risk through several factors, including poor grades, disciplinary issues, limited English proficiency and personal issues such as pregnancy or homelessness.

“My purpose for being a teacher is those at-risk kids,” Sanchez said.

He can relate to students on both ends of the spectrum — those for whom learning comes easily and those who struggle with it.

His grandmother was illiterate and he was raised by his single mother, and both pushed the importance of education.

Of the Texas Governor’s School, Sanchez said, “It’s one of the best summer programs I’ve ever been a part of. It’s a treat to be able to walk into a setting where kids want to learn.”

AMY DODD THOMPSON can be reached at 940-566-6876. Her e-mail address is athompson@dentonrc.com.