Quentin Shores reports on some of the fun summer options for teens and kids in Great Falls:
With the school year coming to a close, families in Great Falls have a range of summer camp options available — from sports and drama to reading programs and science-based activities.
The Heisey Community Center is offering volleyball, football, and basketball camps for students in first through sixth grade, along with a drama camp during the second week of August. The center collaborates with CMR's drama department and North Middle School's football program to introduce students to both sports and extracurriculars early on.
Kobe Linn, program director at the Heisey Community Center, said: "We offer volleyball camps, football camps, and basketball camps ranging from anywhere from first to sixth grade. And then we do a drama camp second week of August."
Linn said: "We like to teach them the fundamentals of each sport, how to do things correctly."
Building friendships and overcoming new challenges in athletics are key parts of the experience. But for some students, academics are also in focus.
The Boys & Girls Club of Cascade County works with kids ages 5 to 12, keeping them learning and engaged through reading, trips across Great Falls, gardening, video games, athletics, and more.
Delainie Morris, unit director at the Boys & Girls Club, said: "This year, we've seen a lot of our kids and kids in the community. They have a reading deficiency. And so, we're hoping to combat that and help them keep their reading level the same from the end of this school year to the beginning of next school year."
Other summer programs are also putting an emphasis on learning while having fun. Opportunities Inc. focuses on keeping kids active and curious all summer, aiming to fight the "summer slide" — when students lose ground academically over break.
Melissa Giard, outreach and program development coordinator at Opportunities Inc., said: "You know, we're learning about nature or we're learning about how dams work or how do astronauts get to space, things of that nature."
Giard said full-day options are also a priority for the organization, designed to ease the burden on working parents: "It really has put a strain on families when they have to, like, miss parts of work twice a day to go pick up their kids or drop them off. So we really wanted to make sure we could provide something that was full day at an affordable price."
