It's Not Too Early To Plan Your Children's Summer

Editor’s note: Greenwich Patch welcomes Greenwich’s Youth Coordinator Jenny Byxbee, who will write a monthly column about issues and news affecting Greenwich youths and their families. For nearly 10 years, she has been the coordinator of all youth services for the town of Greenwich, overseeing the town’s youth services bureau through a private/public partnership between the State Department of Education, the Town of Greenwich, and the United Way of Greenwich. In 2008, she received the “Community Health Hero” award from Greenwich Hospital. In 2003, while serving as the Executive Director of the New Canaan Teen Center, awarded Youth Services Worker for the State of Connecticut. She has been involved in the development of the Greenwich Juvenile Review Board, Reading Champions, The First Selectman’s Youth Commission, and the annual Greenwich Wiffle Ball tournament, and also serves as the chair to the School Readiness Council and Youth Services Council. Jenny is the mom to two very busy little girls.

By Jenny Byxbee.

As I sit here behind my desk still bundled up after our first big snowstorm of 2015, it is hard to believe I am going to talk about Summer Camp… Believe it or not, now is the time to start making summer plans for your children. But you don’t have to worry about handling this all on your own. There’s assistance out there to guide you toward making fun, memorable plans for your children, and there really is something for everyone.

If you missed Greenwich High School’s PTA recent annual SummerFare Camp Expo, do not fret there are many resources to help in your planning.

One of my favorites is a consolidated online brochure available at Communityanswers.org known as the Summer Resource Guide for Children in Greenwich. Community Answers is a great service for families. It provides assistance with navigating multiple agencies in town. It also has an online community calendar that promotes some local summer hot spots and activities for families, including some of my family favorites, like the Greenwich Audubon and activities at our local libraries to name just a few. And this isn’t just a dry online site. There are people there to help, and Community Answers has volunteers available to assist Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 203-622-7979.

Now not every program is going to please every child and often what works for your younger kids probably is not going to cut it with the older ones. So what do you do with those ‘tweens and early teens who are too old for camp but too young to work a summer job and who may not want to be with Mom and Dad all summer? Many of our local camps offer counselor in training (CIT) programs. As with most summer programs, they are on a first-come, first-served basis. CIT programs are great because they give young people the camaraderie of the traditional camp experience with the chance to have some added responsibility, too. These programs tend to fill up quickly. So if your child has an interest, it’s best to start investigating soon.

In addition, I like to encourage the 12- to 15-year-old age groups to look for ways to partner with friends and volunteer. From my experience, more often than not, teens tend to get more out of it than they ever give. The Volunteer Center of Southwestern County publishes a book available at Swwesternct.org/volunteer-stamford that can help connect young people to agencies looking for volunteers.

There is also a wonderful program called Greenwich Youth Conservation Program (GYCP. It offers summer employment for young teens ages 14 to 15 to work together. It provides them a chance to give back, have fun and make Greenwich greener. It fills up quickly so for more information on GYCP, you may call Christina Nappi at 203-622-7792.

For those young adults who attend or did attend Greenwich High School, Student Employment Services (SES) also can help make employment connections. Opportunities range from one-time or temporary commitments to regular part-time and full-time positions and community service work. SES utilizes an extensive database with sophisticated search tools that bring students and employers together. This is all made possible by the Greenwich High School PTA and is a free service. For more information, visit Ghs-ses.org, phone 203-625-8008, or email office@ghs-ses.org.

Whatever your choice of summer fun is for your child or family, mix it up, get planning. And with any camp program you choose, you must get your forms in early, especially those medical forms. I promise your doctor’s office will thank you for it!

Greenwich Youth Services Coordinator Jenny Byxbee may be reached at 203-622-3371 or jennifer.byxbee@greenwichct.org.

Contributed photo from Greenwich Youth Conservation. From left: Miriam Obaiah, Mia Binuya, Jubely Sanchez and Yaa Asanto Wa remove invasive vines, during the summer of 2014.

Contributed photo: Jenny Byxbee.