VAN NUYS RECREATION CENTER DRAWS KIDS KIDS FLOCK TO A VARITY OF FREE AND LOW-COST SUMMER PROGRAMS.Byline: ALEJANDRO GUZMAN Valley News Writer With a wide variety of sports and enrichment enrichment Food industry The addition of vitamins or minerals to a food–eg, wheat, which may have been lost during processing. See White flour; Cf Whole grains. programs offered to the community, Van Nuys Recreation Center is the place to be this summer. The center has a staff of about 20 members working in various programs and serving about 100 kids daily. Park Director Paige Barnes, said parents in and around the community have especially benefited from programs such as Summer Camp, which operates Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., giving parents a fun and safe place to leave their kids during summer vacation Summer vacation (also called summer holidays or summer break) is a vacation in the summertime between school years in which students are off for 3 months, depending on the country and district. . Summer Camp provides kids with a set schedule of crafts and physical activities to keep them busy and out of trouble while their parents are at work. Other summer programs at Van Nuys Recreation Center include Pre-school Camp, Enrichment, Mixed Crafts, Sports Club A sports club, athletics club or sports association is an eclectic institution oriented to multiple sports, which fields many teams and has varied sports departments in several sports, working under the same umbrella organization. , Volleyball volleyball, outdoor or indoor ball and net game played on a level court. An upright net, 3 ft (or 1 m) high, the top of which stands 8 ft (2.43 m) from the ground for men, 7 ft 4 1/8 in (2. , Dodgeball, Computer Keyboard 4 Kids, Computer 101, Ballet, Advanced Ballet, Drill Team, Baking Science, Pictures with Paint, Open Volleyball and Intermediate Hip-Hop. Many of the summer programs are offered free of charge for kids ages 5-17, with the exception of Pre-school Camp ($35 weekly) and advanced ballet ($15 monthly). Barnes said the Baking Science program allows kids to bake using certain ingredients and later the kids are taught how that ingredient pertains to a particular science experiment. Martin Gomez, recreation director, said the park has enjoyed extraordinary successes with its cross-park basketball league Noun 1. basketball league - a league of basketball teams basketball team, five - a team that plays basketball league, conference - an association of sports teams that organizes matches for its members . Gomez said the program serves youth at about the high school age, with the chance to compete while traveling to different parks. Van Nuys had three teams participate in the league and helped the older kids of the community get involved in park activities. Among the other parks that participated were Valley Plaza, Victory Vineland, Panorama and Sepulveda. Gomez said one of the remarkable aspects of the competition was that the teams were coed. It meant that at least one female member of each team had to be on the floor at all times. As a result, many girls improved their level of play. Also, boys' attitudes toward the female players seemed to have improved. Although they were not ecstatic ec·stat·ic adj. 1. Marked by or expressing ecstasy. 2. Being in a state of ecstasy; joyful or enraptured. [French extatique, from Greek ekstatikos, from about girls on their teams, boys accepted the terms to be allowed to play. Gradually, they became more comfortable with letting the girls take shots and started giving them more passes. Gomez said the park has benefited much from the Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG CDBG Community Development Block Grant ), which provides grants that allow programs such as Off-Track Enrichment. This gives kids who attend year-round schools Year-Round School is the operation of educational institutions on a calendar-system that tracks students into class schedules throughout the entire calendar year. A primary motivation is that higher student throughput is accomplished via more effective scheduling of school somewhere to go while on a non-summer vacation. The park is centered in a mainly nonaffluent community, Gomez said. This gives the park a special role in providing structured programs for people who otherwise might not be able to afford them. Most of the kids at the park come from working class backgrounds, said Gomez. Although there is some diversity at the park, it is a predominantly Latino and African-American community. Barnes says First Choice Dental has been a longtime long·time adj. Having existed or persisted for a long time: a longtime friend; a longtime resident of Detroit. longtime Adjective supporter and sponsor for the park. The organization offers kids free cleanings and checkups and even gives them mini-dental kits. In addition, First Choice Dental is taking 20 low-income kids to the circus. The park will take kids on various field trips throughout the summer. Barnes said the kids aren't the only ones excited about them. Parents really look forward to the trips and constantly ask her about them. Trips on the agenda are the beach, ice skating ice skating, gliding along an ice surface on keellike runners known as ice skates. Skating as a Sport Skating, besides being an important form of winter recreation and the essential skill in the game of ice hockey (see hockey, ice) has developed , Magic Mountain, Universal Studios and Disneyland. Barnes said she sees Van Nuys Recreation Center as one big family where Gomez and herself are the mom and dad and the other staff members are older siblings siblings npl (formal) → frères et sœurs mpl (de mêmes parents) . She said she really cares about her workers and the children. ``We try to provide a loving environment,'' Barnes said. The Van Nuys Recreation Center is located at 14301 Vanowen St. For information: (818) 756-8131. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Kids from the Enrichment Program at Van Nuys Recreation Center pose with staff. |
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