Summer Programs Open Doors to Youth - KTUL.com - Tulsa, Oklahoma - News, Weather & Sports

Summer Programs Open Doors to Youth

Schools out and parents may be looking for activities for students. We found out community centers are seeing more children. There is an effort to keep children and teens busy.

Channel 8s Kim Jackson says students are being more active.

They are seeing more teenagers at the YMCA. More importantly, it gives them a place to be. That is the goal.

Schools out, but young men and  are still being tested, still competing, still showing up everyday. Only now, it's the YMCA

"First I came up here to go swimming. Then I got tired of swimming and decided to play basketball," said 12 year old Kendrick Dandy.

There is a constant flow of youngsters all day everyday.

"We prefer parents to not just drop their kids off at the Y but we have a facility that meets the needs of everybody in the family. So you might have a kid in the pool or childwatch and a mom or dad upstairs working out," explained Laura Hailey Butler of the YMCA.

This is the Hutcherson Branch. Other branches have traditional daycamp programs--filled with hundreds of youth.

But this is an open door, to keep students active.

"Because we don't want kids sitting in front of their TV all day. We want them to have an active place to go and the summer kids are more sedentary than they are during school year,"said Hailey-Butler.

Summer school starts next week. 60- Teach For America Teachers are being trained for wrap around care, during summer school to give a full day of supervision.

"Obviously not going home to an empty house. A lot of the kids in those schools would be going to an empty house," explained Hailey Butler.

This building is never empty these days. It's full of competition, creativity, court performance.

Managers are glad to see all of these teenagers here but they are happy to see parents as well, and volunteers are always welcome.