Summer experience

Trying to juggle the summer schedules of four children and work a full-time job can be a difficult task, Bellefontaine mother Christa Pack said.

So an opportunity to enroll her two younger children in Union Station’s Community Summer Program last summer was literally a godsend.

“My husband and I both work and we have two older children and they have jobs, too,” Ms. Pack said of her family’s situation. “We heard about it (the summer program) at church. They had flyers and I just had to fill out an application for the scholarship.

“It was a nice way Gabe (then age 8) and Annabelle (11) could have fun and be out learning while we worked. It was a great service to our family.”

Union Station, which was able to serve 37 children ages 8 to 13 last year, is planning to host a repeat session of the seven-week summer camp, which includes a variety of life skills activities alongside summer recreation, an optional religious component and Friday field trips.

The programming is designed to foster physical, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual growth for those children who are at that tricky age when parents could allow them to stay home unattended, but may prefer a more structured option.

“They both loved it had a lot of fun,” Mrs. Pack said of her children’s experiences. “They went on field trips every week; took part in a lot of outside activities and played in water and they met a lot of friends.

“They taught them about strangers coming up to them and fire safety as well,” the mother said. “Both Annabelle and Gabe said they talked to them a lot about being aware of their surroundings. It really reinforced what we are teaching at home.

“Every week it was something new; it wasn’t the same thing over and over again or they weren’t just at home watching television or playing video games.”

Read complete story in Saturday’s Examiner. 
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