About 60 people, more than half of them children, showed up last weekend for a puppet show, ice cream, face painting and art kit giveaways to mark the launch of Blake Memorial Library’s summer reading program, according to the puppet show’s host.
That’s a fair-sized crowd for Corinth, which has a total of just 1,400 people, said Genny Albert, executive director for the Randolph-based Arts Bus, which was on-site for the event and hosted the pop-up puppet show.
“It is clear that people are ready (for) things that celebrate and are fun,” Albert said.
Several Upper Valley summer program directors say demand is strong for children’s activities such as camps and playgroups this season as families seek a return to normal as the COVID-19 pandemic ebbs. Summer programs this year are focused on helping children recover from the isolation associated with the pandemic while continuing to maintain some precautions to protect those who remain unvaccinated, which include children under 12 who are not yet eligible for COVID-19 vaccines.
The Twin States, using federal COVID-19 relief money, have taken different approaches to increasing children’s access to summer opportunities. Vermont offered a grant to programs to expand, while New Hampshire is offering scholarships directly to families.
“Parents and kids both desperately need this opportunity to be able to engage and socialize,” said Jennifer Smith, division director for children, youth and families at Health Care & Rehabilitation Services of Southeastern Vermont. Summer programs offer a “chance for kids to really be outdoors and have some fun again.”
Several groups on the Vermont side of the Upper Valley, including the Arts Bus and HCRS, are benefiting from a portion of the $3.4 million from the American Rescue Plan money that the state has devoted to its Summer Matters for All grant program. The program, administered by the South Burlington-based Vermont Afterschool, aims to expand summer learning programs for children in grades K-12 by supporting new programs and expanding some existing ones. Another goal is increasing their affordability and eliminating barriers to access.
Last weekend’s East Corinth event served as a launch pad for a session of the Arts Bus’ “Ever After Kids in Never Never Lands” summer program, which is focused on bringing arts kits, camps, classes and shows to rural places in Orange, Windsor and Washington counties. Other stops this summer are expected to include the Upper Valley towns of Bethel, Royalton, Randolph, Strafford and Barnard, said Albert, the organization’s director.
The $33,500 the Arts Bus got from the Summer Matters program helps make the camps and art kits free, Albert said.
“My own belief is the biggest barrier is money,” she said of children’s access to summer programs.
HCRS, a Springfield, Vt., mental health agency that runs summer therapeutic programs for clients ages 8 to 16 in Windsor and Windham counties, received almost $64,000 in Summer Matters funding. HCRS’ program, intended for young people who otherwise might not be able to participate in summer programs, is being run at three sites, in Hartford, Springfield and Brattleboro. The Hartford site is being run in collaboration with the school district, Smith said.
The grant money has enabled HCRS to purchase items such as picnic tables and coolers, mats and weighted blankets, cameras for photography projects, and balls, Smith said.
“It certainly is helpful to have things that are more sort of fun and engaging,” she said.
Other Upper Valley-based recipients of the grant include: Hartland-based Living Proof Mentoring; Chelsea-based SafeArt; the White River Junction-based Upper Valley Haven; the Hartford Youth Council; Black River Innovation Campus in Springfield, Vt.; The Community Campus in Woodstock; the Norwich Recreation Department; and the Randolph Recreation Department.
Wayne Miller, director and founder of Living Proof Mentoring, said he plans to use the project’s $50,000 in grant money to expand virtual programs for Black youths. Living Proof’s summer programs, offered to Black young people in the Twin States at no cost to them, include an eight-week online STEM series, a 10-week social-emotional learning course, story hours and crafting classes, as well as in-person gatherings such as a possible trip to the Fairlee Drive-in. The events are all facilitated by Black mentors and collaborators.
Moving to a virtual model amid the pandemic has enabled Living Proof to extend its reach as it connects Black youths living in rural areas, many of whom have been adopted by white families and don’t know many other people of color.
“This has made it a lot easier to let people access the program,” Miller said.
SafeArt, a nonprofit focused on healing arts for adults and promoting the well-being of young people, is using the $27,000 it got from the grant to extend the hours of its summer programs in Chelsea and Montpelier, and also to hire young people to work at the camps, said Cleopatra Griffin, one of SafeArt’s co-directors.
“Isolation is really hard for young people,” Griffin said. “There’s no end to the amount of work that we have ahead of us.”
In New Hampshire, the state Department of Education is offering students income-based scholarships of up to $650 to cover summer camp costs and up to $5,000 for tutoring, special education therapies or private school tuition. In addition, the department is working with the Community Behavioral Health Association to offer mental health training for summer camp employees and some on-site direct support for campers.
Students of all ages, backgrounds and abilities benefit from exposure to short-term summer enrichment programs, which may involve new challenges, making new friends, having positive experiences and feeling safe emotionally, the DOE said in a news release last week.
“The primary goal is to provide training to camp counselors to support their awareness of behavioral health issues they may see with the children (and) adolescents that may be attending camps throughout the state this summer,” said Roger Osmun, the director of the Lebanon-based West Central Behavioral Health, which has helped shape the curriculum for the camp counselors’ training.
The training should take place soon, he said. In addition, Osmun said West Central expects to periodically provide some area camps with a mental health aide who can assist counselors with specific issues, including disruptive behavioral incidents.
The aides are not intended to replace or supplement existing camp staffing, but to offer a complementary service as camps experience the need, he said.
Behavioral issues are on the minds of some summer camp directors. The guidelines of the Woodstock Recreation Center’s day camp states: “Our programs cannot serve children who display chronically disruptive behavior,” according to the program’s website. Children who have individual aides in school, “or if they have any type of developmental or physical issue that requires special attention” are required to bring an aide with them to camp.
With the support of COVID-19 relief funds and federal Title I money, SAU 6, the district including Claremont and Unity, is offering a new six-week summer program this year for students in grades K-5, for $10 per week or $25 for all six. The program, which starts on July 5 and combines academics with swimming and other sports and games, is being run in collaboration with the Claremont Parks & Recreation Department.
The district typically offers a summer program three days a week in the morning for about 30 students, but this year the program runs Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., said Assistant Superintendent Donna Magoon. It includes breakfast, lunch and snacks at no additional cost. Some weeks as many as 194 students, roughly 30% of SAU 6’s elementary school students, are signed up to attend.
In the mornings, children will participate in academic instruction at Maple Avenue Elementary School, and in the afternoons some will go to the Claremont Savings Bank Community Center while others will stay at the school and explore the city’s parks. One day a week, the campers will take a field trip outside of Claremont, Magoon said.
While schools often offer summer programs only to students who are struggling in the classroom, this program is open to all, Magoon said. Students will be assessed for their abilities at the beginning and given work that is appropriate for their abilities, she said.
Many students missed a lot of time in the classroom this year due to the pandemic. Magoon said the summer program is intended to “help fill some of those gaps that we’re seeing in our students.”
By offering a full day of programming, the camp also is intended to help support parents, who had to become de facto teachers at times over this past year.
“Some had to leave their jobs,” Magoon said. “Some of them are just getting back to work. (We) wanted to make sure we were supporting them.”
SAU 6 plans to continue the program next year, she said.
Summer camps aren’t available everywhere. The Bradford (Vt.) Parks & Recreation Commission, which is looking for a recreation director to start Sept. 1, canceled its camp for the second year in a row due to COVID-19 concerns, said Jared Pendak, the commission’s chairman, adding that the commission hopes to run the summer camp next year.
In the meantime, the volunteer commission has focused on maintaining the town’s parks and encouraging families to use them, said Pendak, a former Valley News staff writer, noting that the playground at Elizabeth’s Park and the waterfall at Boch Park have gotten a lot of use lately.
In addition to some camps remaining closed this year, some children also are too young for camp or their parents might not yet be ready to send them. To help give families with children ages 5 and under a chance to interact safely, the Norwich-based The Family Place resumed outdoor playgroups last month. The group hosts walking playgroups in Wilder on Fridays (although not this week) and in Woodstock on Wednesdays.
“The walk gives us a purpose,” said Tia Howard, parent education coordinator and families learning together coordinator at The Family Place.
The organizers have masks and hand sanitizer on hand and keep track of attendees, she said. Some babies are in strollers or backpacks for the walks, while some older children ride bikes, she said. That also helps maintain physical distancing.
“People seem really excited and happy to connect again in person,” she said. Some are “also a little hesitant.”
The 1½-hour playgroups offer an easy way for children and parents to learn or relearn social skills, following the isolation of the pandemic, Howard said.
Practicing social skills seems likely to be a common exercise this summer. While the nine participants in the Arts Bus camp in East Corinth this week socialized more than Albert might have liked, she said that’s OK.
“Really, it’s about building community again,” she said.
Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.
