Kansas City YMCA offers programs to keep kids busy this summer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - From swim lessons to learning to cook, Kansas City has a slew of programs to keep kids of all ages busy this summer. At the Linwood YMCA, executive director Wesley Triplett says its signature program is the summer fusion STEM program.
“This is a program focused on our middle school students,” said Triplett. “Data shows us there is a lot of stuff for elementary and high school kids to do, but that middle school contingent is a little lost. This allows us to have some intentional, specific programming for 30 kids that will spend June and July with us. It’s all STEM-focused, so science, technology, engineering, arts, and math.”
Over the summer, Triplett says it is important for kids to continue to work on and build skill sets they’ve been learning.
“When kids are not actively using that brain power to be involved in positive things, they just lose that skill set,” said Triplett. “Teachers always tell us in the school year, they spend the first half of the school year rebuilding some of those skills. That’s why summer programming is so important: it keeps children using those skill sets that they’ve learned.”
That’s why they and other organizations have been working to create opportunities and programs for Kansas City-area youth once they get out of school.
“That STEM program involves dance classes, so the kids get to stretch their limbs and do some modern dance,” said Triplett. “Kids in the Kitchen offers some cooking programming as well, so they are getting to sharpen those skills and prepare some food. We have a gardening program they’re doing some work in. We take advantage of the pool and swim on Tuesdays. It’s a well-rounded opportunity to take advantage of some quality summer programs and have some fun.”
The Linwood YMCA is also having tween and teen nights in June and July. Triplett says kids do not have to be YMCA to sign up.
“They can come into a safe place to have some fun,” said Triplett. “A live DJ, basketball, some art projects. It’s all about being in a safe place to have fun. It’s important for us to be in that space to let young people and families know that opportunity is there and we want to be, and continue to be, a stable place in the community that they can lean on.”
It’s an experience Triplett knows firsthand: he did summer programs as a kid and volunteered as a teen.
“This is my ‘why’,” said Triplett. “It was really important for me to give back to that which gave to me. Being able to be back as the leader of this particular Y branch and the work, making sure that kids have the same thing I had, is super important to me. It is a legacy for me to continue the awesome work that Linwood has been doing for the past 40-50 years in this community.”
You can learn more about the programs offered at the Kansas City YMCAs on its website.
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