Youth Ed plans busy summer for Tribal children

New Youth Education Manager Tim Barry has a big summer planned for Native and community youth.

Hired in May after more than 10 years managing the Monmouth/Independence YMCA, Barry says that much of his summer will be "learning about Grand Ronde, the existing Youth Ed programs and getting my feet wet in the community."

He is filled with ideas for the years ahead, with a special focus on wellness issues, but he wants community input to be sure he is on the right track.

The Monmouth/Independence YMCA Web site (www.miymca.net), however, is a window into many of the programs he has already built and successfully sustained in recent years. Among them are pee-wee sports for 4 to 6 year olds, cheerleading, karate, gymnastics, T-ball, track and field, and tennis for starters.

He says he's "a big promotion guy," so the community will be hearing about existing programs in Smoke Signals, but also on Facebook (Grand Ronde YouthEd), on the Tribal Reader Board, by e-mail and direct mail and also through fliers that staff will hand out to every child who might want to participate, and every parent whose child might want to participate. Also coming soon will be an update of Youth Ed programs on the Grand Ronde Tribal Web site.

At the same time, he said in an interview in his sunny office at the Youth Education building, the programs already in place are as popular as he could hope for, with the K-5 Summer Day Camp program already filled and building a waiting list.

Among the programs already set for summer:

• Golf Camp (Grades 6-12);
• Volleyball Camp (Grades 6-12);
• Nike Camp (Grades 6-12);
• Basketball Camp (Grades 6-12);
• Art Camp (Grades 6-12);
• Geology Camp (Grades 6-8);
• Middle School Boys Night-Out Camp (Grades 6-8);
• High School Boys Night-Out Camp (Grades 9-12);
• Middle/High School Girls Lock-in Night (Grades 6-12);
• Media Camp (Grades 6-12);
• High School Boys Night-Out Camp (Grades 9-12);
• Culinary Camp (Grades 6-12);
• (School) Credit Recovery Program (Grades 9-12);
• Student Youth Employment (Grades 9-12);
• Tribal Canoe Journey;
• Chinuk Family Retreat.

All are first-come, first-served, and the Nike and Culinary camps also have a competitive application process through which Youth Ed staff will select participants.

Contact Youth Ed in person or call with questions at 503-879-2101, but the sooner the better. Classes not already filled are filling up quickly.

"I want to emphasize," said Barry, "we have great staff and great programs, so when parents sign their children up, they need to make a commitment for the entire program. There's a lot of planning, and supplies are purchased for these programs that we don't want to waste.

"The sign-up sheets are already out there, so don't wait. It's up to the parents and kids to fill out the applications and turn them in."

In addition to Barry, Youth Ed this month hired Matthew Mosely as recreation coordinator, Tiffany Mercier as secretary, and soon, a new K-5 tutor will be named. In February, Jacintha ("J") Stanley came on as Youth Recreation assistant. And during the summer, the department will have many college and high school interns filling any number of roles in the department's many programs.

"I excited about serving the youth and families in the community, and strengthening Grand Ronde families as a whole," said Barry. "We're here to serve!"