St. Louis city recreation centers wrapped up their free 10-week summer programs with an all-camps luau at Marquette Recreation Center, celebrating a season dedicated to keeping local youth active and engaged.
For decades, the city has offered the program to provide daily meals, sports, field trips and academic enrichment for underserved communities. Funded through annual city budget allocations and operated by the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Forestry, the camps have been a safe place for hundreds of children ages 6-13.
“I’ve been with the camp since I was 6 or 7 years old,” said Denver Pettis, a Tandy Recreation Center camper. “It was a really good thing, and I definitely want to come back next year.”
This year, six out of the seven city recreation centers hosted camps, including 12th & Park, Marquette, Tandy, Gamble, Wohl and Buder.
More than 350 children attended the luau, though rainy weather put a damper on the schedule.
“We were supposed to be outside, but we had to do a switch around and go inside, but let me tell you, the kids are having a great time,” said Juakena Callion, Parks Recreation Commissioner.
Campers enjoyed music, face painting, balloon sculptures, a piñata and other festivities. Every camp leader and camper also received themed attire to wear for the day.
Lawrence Bryant | St. Louis American
“Every single boy got a shirt and all the girls got grass skirts and leis — and it was all funded by the City of St. Louis,” Callion said. “If it wasn’t for our taxpayers providing us with this budget to do these things, we wouldn’t be able to do it.”
Callion emphasized that the centers blend interactive skill-building activities with traditional play, keeping campers’ minds sharp and preventing the typical loss of reading and math skills over the summer.
She said kids at the camp can participate in STEM programs and learn tumbling, karate and golf. They also can learn to design keychains.
Common themes voiced by campers were having fun and creating bonds with new friends.
Camp leaders also acknowledged that they are helping address modern issues, such as screen time and technology raising children.
“A lot of kids live on their phones and technology,” said camp leader Dejuan “Snacks” Bolden. “This is a chance for them to put it down and spend eight hours a day just actually being a kid and being active.”
Structured after-school and summer programs can reduce risky behavior among young people by up to 40% during the hours when they are most likely to be unsupervised, according to the Afterschool Alliance, a national nonprofit that advocates for after-school programs, and federal juvenile justice researchers.
The camps also rely on adult mentorship. According to Mentor.com, young people with non-parent adult mentors like camp leaders and coaches are 55% more likely to enroll in college and 130% more likely to hold leadership positions in clubs or sports.
For Tristan Lindsey, a teenager who attends camp at Tandy Rec Center, staff coaching plays a role in his continued participation.
“The staff, they’re a good staff. There’s a basketball coach. … He makes me better, makes me want to keep playing basketball,” Lindsey said. “They make your summer good. They make you want to stay at Tandy.”
Bolden, who attended the camp as a child before becoming a staff member, noted the full-circle dynamic and role of staff representation.
“I’m basically just paying it forward,” Bolden said. “Without some of these people that I met in these rec centers, I probably wouldn’t be the man that I am today. You build relationships with kids who maybe don’t have a father figure, a big brother, or an uncle. Where I take my joy is building relationships where they learn respect because of the way I teach them.”