7/10/98
ATHENS, Ohio -- Three first-grade boys come skipping out of the Ping Center locker room bearing bright eyes, wide smiles, and brand new Nike tennis shoes.
"We got cool new shoes," boasts one.
"Mine has a gold swoosh," hollers a second. The boys stop just long enough to show their Kids on Campus teacher before running to the basketball court to rejoin their classmates.
Kids on Campus, now in its third year, is a grant-funded cooperative effort by Ohio University, Hocking College and five area school districts -- Alexander, Athens, Federal Hocking, Nelsonville-York and Trimble. This year's version began June 22 and runs through July 31.
The donation of 600 pairs of shoes and socks to the program was made possible by Nike Vice President for Global Sales Tim Joyce, who earned both a bachelor of business administration degree and a master's degree in sports administration from Ohio University. But these kids are getting a lot more than new shoes out of the program.
The program is meant to seek out disadvantaged children in the area and provide them with access to facilities and opportunities they would not have otherwise. Of about 650 applications received, 457 children entering first through sixth grade were chosen, with 180 returning from last year. As more funding for the program becomes available, the number of children it can help grows; in 1996 only 300 could participate.
At least 51 percent of the students must qualify for the state's free and reduced school lunch program in order to participate. Several of the school districts are in areas that have been devastated by recent flooding.
Although it costs $1,100 per child to operate the program, because of grants and outside contributions, the cost to parents is just $5 per child per week. Grant money allows the school districts to bus the students to Ohio University five days a week for six weeks.
"We are so fortunate to be so well-funded," says Program Director Angie Cantrell, a former Plains elementary school teacher. "These kids have access to so many things they may have never even seen before, like computers and swimming. ... And the Ping Center's not your average school gymnasium."
A week of intensive staff training in June introduced Kids on Campus to the 16 teachers, 32 parents, 18 Ohio University students, seven middle school volunteers, AmeriCorps, Corporation for Ohio Appalachian Development (COAD) and America Reads volunteers, and Tri-County Summer Service Corps students who are making this year's program a success.
Communication styles is the theme for this summer's program. The students are divided by grade level into 16 teams of about 25 children. Each group studies a different concentration area, such as photography, film, newspapers and novel writing. About an hour and a half each day is spent studying the history of the fields and the people it employs as well as in creating projects. They will share their experiences with their peers in a "communication fair" during the last week of the program.
"We're learning about people with disabilities and they're teaching us a song in sign language," says 8-year-old Amanda Stanley of Nelsonville. "We do art and music and swimming too."
A normal week for a "kid on campus" includes spending time improving math and reading skills with computer software three to four times, sports activities at the Ping Center twice, art classes twice, swimming lessons four times, performing arts classes twice, and meals and snacks daily. Students in first through third grades receive one-on-one reading assistance and fourth- through sixth-graders receive small group tutoring through the America Reads program.
Ted Misner of Chauncey is working with the program for the first time this year as a para-professional, a parent who works with the teachers in every aspect of the children's activities. He is the father of a second- grader and a fourth-grader who also are first-year participants.
"I'm doing it to be with the kids," Misner says. "Because I'm a bus driver for the Chauncey schools, my summer schedule allows me to participate."
The Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine provides physicals for the children and the College of Health and Human Services is conducting hearing screenings. Baker Center's Corner Room serves nutritional breakfasts and lunches daily, and Kroger has donated food and drinks for daily snack time.
"The community support has been incredible," Cantrell says. "We used to have to seek out contributions when the program began, but now people call us wanting to help."
When this summer's program is over, the work in the Kids on Campus office in Grovesnor Hall is far from finished.
"We follow up with teachers and parents of the children who participated to see how their progress in the regular classroom has changed, and so far we're getting great results," Cantrell says. A 1996 study by Philliber Research associates of New York reported that the program not only improved students' performance in math, science and reading, but also increased parents' involvement in school committees and open houses. Eighty-two percent of Kids on Campus participants' parents reported that they were employed over the summer, while more than half said they stayed home to take care of their children the summer before.
Cantrell hopes the program will expand in coming years by offering after-school tutoring at area schools throughout the year and increasing family activities and training with the help of local agencies.