PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE CITY OF FIFE

The Fife Fundango Summer Camp filled up quickly last year. Registration for this and other summer programs is going on now.

Fife gears up for summer of fun

By Meghan Erkkinen

It is the time of year when summer is beginning to peek through the clouds and students are getting anxious at their desks. As children gear up for summer vacation, many par-ents are wondering how to keep their children active.

The city of Fife has the answer. Fife’s Parks and Recreation department has a variety of activities, from sports activities to day camp, for children of all ages, from toddlers through age 15.

The biggest and most popular program is the Fife Fundango Summer Day Camp, which runs for nine weeks, from June 16 to Aug. 15, and is for children ages 6 to 12. Parents can sign their children up for one or two weeks or even all nine.

Each week is themed to coincide with planned activities and the weekly field trip. The field trips include visits to Pioneer Farm, Mt. Rainier, the Pacific Science Center and a Tacoma Rainiers game. Every day, camp participants will do arts and crafts, group games, physical activities and swim at the Fife Pool.

“For the most part we mix it up and try to get a variety of games in there (every day),” said Kristi Richards, a recrea-tion assistant for the city who is coordinating the day camp activities. “Summer day camp is always my favorite thing about what we (the recreation department) do.”

Also this year the city is working on improving its Leaders in Training program, which coincides with the day camp. The program teaches children ages 13 to 15 how to be counselors.

Over a two-week session, participants will learn vital skills such as first aid and CPR. During the second week of the program, participants will have the opportunity to assist in planning and coordinating activities for the younger campers.

Although the Leaders in Training program has been offered in the past, Recreation Program Manager Colin Brooks said this year it has been updated and improved.

He and Richards are also excited this year about a new scholarship program for lower-income families who qualify for free or reduced lunch. Eligible families can receive 50 or 100 percent scholarships for a week of camp for each child in the family.

“The scholarship program is something that I think will greatly benefit the community,” Brooks said.

Richards agreed.

“I think there’s a lot of kids that don’t have the opportunity to experience day camp,” she said. “I just think it’s cool that we’re going to be able to reach a lot more kids.”

A total of $8,000 in scho-larships will be awarded this summer.

Other programs to be offered this summer include the Kidmobile, a free drop-in program at Dacca Park for families with children ages 5-12. There are also several sports-

themed opportunities offered through Skyhawks for children interested in soccer, tennis, volleyball or basketball. Sports program opportunities are avail-able for children ages 4-14.

A new offering this summer is Kidz Love Soccer, with programs for children ages 2-7, which introduces soccer in a non-competitive way.

The city plans to add more programs as the city grows over the next few years, but for the time being, Brooks said he thinks the city has a variety of options.

“For the size of the com-munity we have, I think it’s a good mix,” he said.

Story Tools