Center's camp program mixes fun and culture

Looking for a way to get the kids off the couch and out of the house this summer? Winchester Cultural Center, 3130 S. McLeod Drive, has everything a 6- to 12-year-old child could ask for.

For more than a decade, kids have visited the center for its summer programs that include weekly field trips to places like Wet 'n Wild, Grand Slam Canyon and cultural centers such as museums. So successful are the camps that after participants are too old to take part in the activities they become counselors.

Darren Uhl, cultural specialist at Winchester, said the requests by kids to keep coming back and parents who hope their child can volunteer tells him he's doing something right.

"It's become more of an arts and learning camp in the last four or five years," he said of the program that runs through August 20. "We wanted to distinguish ourselves from other camps, sites with pools and sports. Since we're the only cultural community center that Clark County has, kids with different interests have a choice."

Although play time and fun are always emphasized, Uhl said one of the reasons the camps may be so popular each year is the highly structured nature of the programs.

"We have things like an American Sign Language specialist, a theater specialist and someone working with them in dramatic and theater arts," he said. "We also have a hip-hop dance specialist and a skateboard instructor. We rotate them through different classes, it's a highly structured camp. And kids ultimately like the structure because it lets them be more creative instead of just hanging out."

Casey Levin, 16, now a camp counselor, said she went all the way through the program and at age 12, when she was too old to take the classes, decided to volunteer. Uhl hired her this summer to be a full-fledged counselor because she's been through the activities herself.

"I've never hired someone who wasn't 18," Uhl said. "But she's as great as anyone I've hired who has been older. It's really nice to have people who want to come back. Every year it seems parents at the end of the summer ask, 'Can my child volunteer and come back?' "

For Levin, the camps represent family. She plans to continue to be a counselor even after next year, when she's enrolled in college.

"My last year going to the camp I was so sad that I was leaving," Levin said about the desire to become a volunteer. "The program was so greatly organized, and the counselors were some of the nicest people I had at camp. I went to a couple different ones and didn't have the same feeling. The trips and activities were great, and the specialists were really down to earth. So after I was 12, (Uhl) asked if I wanted to come back and be a teen leader. I didn't want to sit around all summer, so I did it."

As for Uhl, the best part about attending camp are the memories that are built.

"When they're older this will be one of the things that they loved about childhood. They are building memories, meeting friends, learning responsibility. It's different than what they learn in school. They stimulate their creativity, and hopefully they'll start to value recreation that the government provides so we can keep these camps going in the future."

The cost of each week of camp is $80. Winchester also offers financial assistance to those who qualify. Those interested can call 455-7340.


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