Summer Camp Kicks Off at Legacy Park, Elementary and Middle Schoolers Enrolled

ALACHUA ‒ The fun returns this summer at Legacy Park Summer Camp as area youth take advantage of a variety of outdoor and indoor activities structured to entertain and educate. With school out, children often face limited activities and social interaction with other children, and parents are left with few options to watch their children on work days.

For some parents it becomes a choice between working to earn an income or staying with their children when school is out for the summer. To help parents and offer a variety of activities and programs catering to youth, the City of Alachua's Recreation and Culture Department, in partnership with the Children’s Trust of Alachua County (CTAC), is offering eight weeks of summer camp June 12 through Aug. 4.

The program, which is held at Legacy Park, is the combined effort of the City of Alachua, the Alachua Teamworks program and CTAC. Alachua sponsors the camp and provides the facilities and staff with funding assistance from CTAC and Teamworks. The Legacy Park Recreation Complex offers an indoor area with basketball courts, a stage and classrooms for movies and learning activities as well as a concession stand. Outside amenities include an all-inclusive playground, sports fields and an amphitheater.

The camp offers an opportunity for children to make their summer break from school an adventure to be remembered and also to stay active. Camp activities include sports games, music and dance, playground time, artwork, and visits to the splash park, swimming, movies and other weekly field trips. Camp also provides kids opportunities to make new friends and to work off a little of that stored up energy. Over 180 elementary and middle school students signed up for the camp for both half-day and full-day sessions.

To make the summer program possible and affordable to as many families as possible, CTAC provided a grant for summer enrichment programming in various areas of the county and Alachua was awarded $66,665. Those funds are used to provide scholarships to cover most student enrollment fees, field trips and equipment, as well as paying senior counselor staff. Teamworks provided funding for junior counselor staff, which is made up of high school students.

Senior staff are hired as counselors and administrators for the summer and are comprised largely of employees of the Alachua County school system. Alachua Recreation and Culture Department Director Damon Messina said, “Besides giving us an experienced staff that deals with children on a regular basis, it also provides summer employment for eight or nine people for the period they are not employed by the school system.”

Summer camp director Liz Dioguardia is an employee at Mebane Middle School and has worked for the school system for 22 years. “We have a junior staff of high school students who work directly with the kids, organizing their activities and supervising,” said Dioguardia. “The idea is to have counselors closer to the kids’ age groups while also giving the junior counselors their first job.” Dioguardia added that the experience also gives the young counselors responsibilities they can carry on to future jobs. “I mentor them, and if they do well, we give them more responsibility,” Dioguardia said.

Both Dioguardia and Messina give credit to DeDe McClain for the success of the summer camp program. Messina said that McClain was an Alachua County school system employee for 26 years and is now a full-time Alachua Recreation Department employee who has been running the summer camp program for the past five years.

“DeDe is what really makes this program run smoothly, and she spends months preparing for the camp,” said Messina. “She also runs the seniors’ program, often going from one to the other each day.”

Although the program costs $400 for the entire full-time camp, CTAC sponsored over 100 full and partial scholarships based on household income and need, increasing the opportunity for youth to participate in the program. The full-day program runs from 7:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. Breakfast, lunch and snacks are part of the package in compliance with the Alachua County School Board's summer nutrition guidelines.

Messina said the camp is another example of the Alachua’s focus on providing resources, opportunities and activities that directly benefit residents.

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