aerial view of Western's campus at night, with golden lights surrounded by dark trees

Western Adds an Additional Date for its Wednesday Early Release After-School Program for Grades K-5

Contact: Debbie Gibbons, Western Washington University Extended Education Youth Programs manager, at (360) 650-6820 or debbie.gibbons@wwu.edu.

BELLINGHAM – Western Washington University’s “Odyssey of Science & Arts” Youth Program has added an additional date to its new early-release program for children in grades K-5; the additional session will run from 1:45-5:15 p.m. on Wednesday, March 28 on Western’s campus.

Due to the overwhelming popularity and a waitlist generated by the original three sessions, the March 28 session has been added.  The theme of the new session is “Mathletic Adventures,” which aims to make learning math fun through games, puzzles and experiences in everyday life. 

Students will:

  • Play multiplication hop-scotch, beach volleyball addition, and musical math during "Math Recess" 
  • Take a math trail to investigate shapes, symmetry, and patterns in everyday life
  • Develop spatial awareness through games with tessellations, pyramid stacking, discovering "pi" and more with brain teasers
  • Explore geometry through paper folding and 3-D puzzle origami to see how a square is much more than it seems

Odyssey of Science & Arts provides an opportunity for students to explore the fun of science and art in a university setting.  Students discover the "best kept secret" places on Western's campus and ignite their imagination and creativity with hands-on activities in specialized labs, classrooms and the Wade King Student Recreation Center.  In order to ensure appropriate learning levels and an adult to child ration of 1:10, students will be divided into two groups, grades K-2 and grades 3-5. 

The cost is $39 per child, which includes instruction materials, a snack and a 20-minute parking permit for convenient drop-off and pick-up.  Online registration is available online at .

Additional program details for Odyssey of Science & Arts and other Western Washington University Youth Programs can be found online at or by contacting Western’s Youth Programs by e-mail at youth@wwu.edu or by phone at (360) 650-3308.