DC SCORES offers three FREE summer camps beginning tomorrow!

Today is the first day of summer break for thousands of District students.

Inevitably, today also brings about the question: What will those thousands of students do during the summer months to stay active, to keep their minds fresh, to stay out of trouble?

Thanks to your support of our Couch to Camp campaign over the last six weeks and funding from The Century Council, the DC Children & Youth Investment Trust Corporation, the Neighborhood Investment Fund and New Communities, DC SCORES is hosting three FREE summer camps — open not only to our poet-athletes but any students within the appropriate age groups.

They begin tomorrow.

Below is the list of camps. To learn more about them or to register, contact Middle School Program Director Katrina Hochstetler at khochstetler@americascores.org or 202.295.7760.

Middle School Soccer Camp

• When: June 21-24, 9am-4pm
• Who: Middle school students
• What: Soccer camp
• Where: Kelly Miller Middle (map)
• *A bus leaving Columbia Heights Education Campus (map) will take campers each morning.

Elementary School Soccer & Arts Camp

• When: Daily, June 27-August 5, 12:30-6:30pm
• Who: Elementary school students
• What: A six-week camp combining soccer and a variety of arts and wellness activities.
• Where: H.D. Cooke Elementary School (map)

Tubman Soccer Camp

• When: Daily, July 11-29, 1-5pm
• Who: Elementary and middle school students
• What: Soccer camp
• Where: Tubman Elementary School (map)

A Washington Post article this weekend mentioned cutbacks in the District’s Youth Employment Program as well as 5,600 fewer summer-school spots and the cutting of 1,500 spaces in other programs.

The lack of free summer programs for low-income youth is, now, more glaring than ever. That’s why we’ve made it a priority to find funding for our three camps covering a good portion of the summer that will provide youth with a positive, organized environment where they can get exercise, learn new skills, and make new friends from schools throughout the city.

Nana A., a ninth-grader at Paul Public Charter School, has been involved in DC SCORES summer camps both as a participant and as a counselor.

“My experience is, every year going to camp has changed my thoughts about soccer and has given me a different perspective about bringing learning and sport to help people,” Nana said.

“At first, everybody doesn’t know each other, so we’re kind of distant. But then once you bring everyone together, there’s something that they share in common (soccer) and they become attached.”

It’s never too late to sign up for our camps. Simply contact Middle School Program Director Katrina Hochstetler (khochstetler@americascores.org; 202.295.7760).