Summer recreation program offers youth adventures

Summer camp and after-school care is not just about field trips to a water park or snack time. Sometimes it can mean dealing with hyper or angry children who need extra attention.

But Carson City staff is continuing to find ways to make every child feel welcome.

Recreation staff members will continue reaching out to children with behavioral and physical special needs who participate in summer camp and after-school groups while also expanding youth programs this summer.

"We're making an ongoing attempt to improve our special needs service," said Scott Keith, recreation supervisor for youth programs. "There's a significant part of the camp population with the behavioral side of special needs that deal with that in their day to daily lives."

City staff is working with a program in Reno and is seeking funding for an Americorp volunteer to help with special need children. The city also gets numerous requests from parents of children who have physical disabilities and wants to provide successful experiences for them also, Keith said.

The department will offer four new programs for teenage children who have grown out of summer camp but are too young to work.

Fifth-, sixth- and seventh-graders are invited to join a five-day water adventure and a five-day action sports camp. The water adventure will take participants kayaking, water skiing, wake boarding and to water parks and the beach. The action sports camp will offer skateboarding, BMX bike riding, rock climbing, kayaking and mountain biking.

For ninth- and 10th- graders who want to learn something, a two-week program will teach children how to be a "recreation leader in training." The class will teach children behavioral management, cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, first aid and group and team building. After two weeks, participants are invited to volunteer with city camps Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the rest of the summer.

Those ninth- and 10th-graders interested in hitting the road are invited to sign up for individual trips on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The group will travel to a water park, rope course, Zephyr Cove, mountain biking, a skatepark, kayaking and a mall, movie and pizza day.

"We're trying to expand to open up more than just basic day camp activities to younger kids and expand programs to teenagers, too," Keith said. "If the two specialty camps (Action Sports Camp and Water Adventure Camp) are successful, we hope to do a full summer of them next year."

Contact Jill Lufrano at jlufrano@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.