Schools
Camp Riley Coordinators Looking Forward to 2011 Season
A unique Farmington-Farmington Hills camp combines learning and fun.
With summer just a few weeks away, organizers are planning for the start of another year for Camp Riley.
The camp, held June 20-27 at the before moving to , consists of daily outdoor activities and field trips. The activities also serve to keep the children engaged in their academics. They might not even realize they are doing schoolwork.
“Now, instead of sitting down and doing a math sheet for 15 minutes you are playing a game of hopscotch for instance,” said Katrina Stewart, the Farmington YMCA camp director. “They are still adding and subtracting, they are still doing multiplication but they are physically engaged in it.”
Find out what's happening in Farmington-Farmington Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Because the camp serves kids from financially stressed families, social workers are part of the staff, said Pam Lyle, social worker with . “There’s a lot of stressors in their lives. It’s often hard to focus on school as it is … the summer-time offers kind of a downtime when they can still hang on to the skills they learned in a fun manner.”
Activities follow a set of state guidelines. Pre-testing and post-testing is also done to track how the camp has affected the children academically.
Find out what's happening in Farmington-Farmington Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“Our curriculum is based on the state of Michigan’s grade level content expectations,” Stewart said. “It gives the kids the opportunity to use what their life experience is with the particular activity that is planned.”
The camp is jointly run by Farmington Youth Assistance and the Farmington YMCA. It is sponsored by The Riley Foundation, Farmington Youth Assistance and the .
Farmington Youth Assistance is sponsored by Oakland County, the municipalities of Farmington and Farmington Hills and . Because the funding comes from local organizations, only children who attend a Farmington public school can join the camp.
“We want to serve our community first,” Lyle said.
Children from kindergarten to fifth grade are eligible for camp. Children who are entering sixth grade may be considered if a younger sibling also attends.
Cost for the camp, which runs from June 20 to Aug. 19, weekdays 9 a.m.-4 p.m., is $135 per week. Before-care starts at 7:15 a.m. and after-care is until 6 p.m., for an additional fee of $35. Financial assistance is available.
The final registration night will be held June 14, 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. at the YMCA. You may bring proof of income to receive a scholarship determination at that time. For more information, call Stewart, 248-553-4020, ext. 107.
