Rec Dept. raises money for kids' summer camp

Instead of lounging around on the sweaty Philly streets this summer, some local school children got to pass their time in the PennKids summer camp swimming, rock climbing, playing sports and learning new things every day.

Saturday afternoon in the General Purpose room of the Pottruck Gymnasium, these campers gathered for the reunion of the first-ever PennKids summer camp. And aside from all the foosball, pumpkin painting and ping pong, the event was also a kick-off for this year's scholarship drive to send children in kindergarten through sixth grade to the camp.

Last summer was the first time that the University sponsored PennKids -- a six-week summer camp for the children of Penn faculty and staff as well as for students from Penn-assisted schools.

By the generosity of every sports club team, Greek organizations and other donors, 50 children were able to receive $300 scholarships to attend the camp.

This Saturday was an opportunity "to get the scholarship donors to meet some of the kids" they helped, according to Kris Wilson, the co-director of PennKids and the associate director of recreation at Pottruck.

But this is not the typical camp. As third grader Hannah Kearney said, "It was really different" from other camps she attended.

She and her fourth-grade friend Kourtney Clark couldn't help but complete each other's sentences in praise of the program. They said that they liked the food, the counselors and the trips as well as the learning experiences they extracted from the program.

Each week there was a different theme to the program, such as animals, history and sports.

The first year was a huge success, satisfying the expectations of the directors, campers and parents.

Tina Edmonds, mother of 11-year-old scholarship recipient Courtney, said that she enjoyed "just everything about it... for one, it didn't cost anything -- that was a plus."

She added that she was pleased with the level of the activities provided for her daughter.

Courtney said that she would definitely go back again if it were offered for students going into seventh grade, adding that she made a lot of good friends.

"I knew some of the people already, but not that many," Courtney said. "So I got to meet some new people."

Wilson said that allowing students to interact with other types of children was one of the main motivations for the way the camp was organized.

"There was a great mix of ages and backgrounds, so it was exactly what we were looking for, and we're looking forward to doing it again."

Although right now the summer camp is the main focus of PennKids, Wilson said that they are looking to expand their programs. During the year, PennKids participates in outreach programs..., and according to Wilson, organizers "are looking to continue to develop those relations with the Penn Assisted Schools."

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