thousands of kids throughout the country create their own robots. Thurm Safran said it takes just a couple of days to create it and throughout the week students compete do different things with them.
“Every year we listen to the kids and parents to see what they want,” Safran said.“Last year, we learned that there are some very serious gamers our there who want to learn more about actually making a game and who may even want to make it their profession.
“Kids are having fun and their self-esteem blossoms,” he continued. “Parents are happy. The staff is happy. You can’t surpass kids learning in a fun, stimulating environment.”
STICKING CLOSE TO HOME CREST (Child care — Recreation — Enrichment — Sports — Together) Camps at Virginia Avenue Park offer more interaction for summer campers through physical and creative activities.
At CREST, up to 120 campers participate in each specialty class or activity. Parents and kids can choose from different themes that will challenge the campers’minds and bodies.
With classes in both the morning and afternoon, counselors create the curriculum for their 8-to 14-year-old campers. Participants don’t spend the night at this camp, but rather, they come from day to day during their session to enjoy activities during spring or summer.
CREST’s theater program ranges from musical to improv to comedy, according to Adrianna Torres, community services specialist. The visual program offers themes like nature or recycled art that encourage campers to learn new skills and new ways to express themselves, while their sports experience, which is typically held at John Adams School, gives campers new fitness ideas with a variety of outdoor activities.
Campers also go on weekly local trips to hike or swim, or visit such sites as theme parks, museums, parks and sporting events.
“The kids love it,” Torres said.“They especially love going on the trips and meeting kids from different schools. Everyone comes from a different background. It’s just really diverse.”
Rosie’s Girls is an impacted class designed specifically for girls in middle school. Unlike CREST’s other programs, space is limited to just 40 girls each session. Rosie’s Girls hopes to build self-esteem, leadership and physical confidence through an exploration of trades and non-traditional activities like carpentry, welding, mask-making, furniture design, kayaking and ropes courses.
CREST also offers “generous financial assistance for low to moderate income families”said Rebecca Sprigg, program analyst for CREST.
Where kids were once just sent off into the woods, the words “summer camp” now bear a fun and constructive connotation. The option are as varied as the imagination this time of year; the time to send the little rascals off.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 17, 2007. Read the original PDF.