Coming soon: YMCA Summer Academy for kids

Children soon will have the opportunity to participate in a nine-week event held by the YMCA of Northeast Louisiana that will include education, field trips, water activities, sports, arts and crafts and scavenger hunts.

The Summer Academy is for children ages 4-12.

“We’re going to start off on June 1 and run for nine weeks,” Program Coordinator Carolyn Eads said. “We’ll end on July 31. We’ll be at two sites. We’ll be in West Monroe at Ridge Avenue Baptist Church and Monroe at Lakeshore Elementary School.”

Eads field trips are planned each week.

“The field trips consist of the Children’s Museum, Black Bayou, the Louisiana Purchase Gardens & Zoo, bowling, the Biedenharn Museum, Skatetown, Kiroli Park and a fun one that we’re keeping secret,” she said.

An hour and a half each day will be dedicated to academics. The time will be split into 30-minute increments focusing on math and reading.

To register, Eads said parents can stop by the YMCA.

“They can come by the Y at 1505 Stubbs and pick up their forms and register right then,” she said. “The registration fee will be $40. It will be $85 per week for a child. There are scholarships based on income and need. If the parents feel like they can qualify for that, they can come in and fill that out too.”

The activities will be Monday-Friday. Kids can be dropped off starting at 7:30 a.m. and must be picked up by 6 p.m.

“We just would love to have some more children,” Eads said. “We’ve got enough to have two nice sites right now, but the more kids we can reach, the happier we are. We know there’s a need out there for this. It looks like everything’s going to go off the way we planned it and it looks like it’s going to be very fun.”

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