Youth Activities Program

Connecting Kids to Fun Around the Sound

We're back for another fun summer! It won't be the same extravaganza as last year due to no grant funding, but AIPRD would like to find ways to continue this program of summer events for our island youth.

Our hope is that as we increase our volunteer pool, we can offer more events each year and seek grant funding in the future again.

WHAT'S DIFFERENT?

Well, there are less programs and there is now some cost involved for island residents. Thanks to a generous donation from Tanner Electric, camp is free for full-time resident youth. Other events, like Youth Sailing and Sound View Camps' 2-week overnight sessions, will be half price for resident youth.

Register for events at: https://aiprd.getomnify.com/

Available Youth Activities

Below is a list of available activities.

AI Youth Kayaking Program - only for Island youth

Join us as we continue our kayaking program for island youth entering grades 6-12. These events are for full-time resident youth only, due to grant funding of the equipment. See the Youth Kayaking Program page for more details!

AI Children's Nature Camp (Day Camp) - ON WAITLIST

An island favorite is back in 2023! Camp will be held on the island July 5-7 (W-F) for youth entering 1st-6th grades, with 30 spots available.

REGISTRATION:

Camp is now full but you can still put your child on the waitlist by clicking Request Booking here: https://aiprd.getomnify.com/#!/service-detail?type=event&id=12134

See our Camp page for all the details!

2023 Anderson Island Youth Sailing Adventure & Education Program

Youth who are full-time island residents can go on these adventures for half price. If you don't have the coupon code, please contact Belen (bschneider@andersonislandparks.org) to receive it before registering.

The 2023 Anderson Island Youth Sailing Adventure & Education Program will be for Anderson Island children and young adults, ages 7y – 18y. We will be offering 2 adventures, both to Blake Island. These events will take place July 18th – 20th & August 1st – 3rd. Each event will be limited to 6 youth, and will also include an on-board adult volunteer, as well as a speed boat assist vessel with operator and an adult assist vessel volunteer.

Our planned three day two night excursion to Blake Island State Park will include sailing through the Tacoma Narrows and Colvos Passage to reach the island. The kids and chaperones will camp on Blake Island, enjoy the trails and marine environment, as well as learn the local Native American history of the island, and more. We will camp for two nights and sail back to Anderson Island on the third day.

A sailing crew is a cohesive unit that works together to ensure the success of the mission/adventure.

Youth will be required to participate as crew while sailing, under instruction from Captain Corey, as Bow Watch, Navigator, Helmsman, & Rover. These will be on a scheduled rotation in 30-minute intervals, with two crew on break at a time.
They will also be expected to participate in the 3.5-mile hike with us around the perimeter of the island. Considered an easy route, it takes an average of 1h 29 min to complete.
Please do not sign your child up for this adventure if they cannot commit to these two important requirements.

Both excursions depart from Oro Bay Marina, Anderson Island. The vessel is a well maintained & cared for 1979 Sloop Rigged Newport 30 MkII. All vessel surveys (hull & rigging) are current, as is the Liability Insurance through South Sound Sailing Tours. Captain Corey carries an O.U.P.V. (6 pack) license, a Master 100T License, Auxiliary Sail Endorsement, and is First Aid & CPR qualified.

Open to youth ages 7y – 18y

Events that don't have all 6 participant slots full within 48 hours of departure will be canceled and registrants will be contacted to move to another date or receive a refund. You may cancel for a full refund up to 3 weeks prior to the event.

REGISTRATION:

HALF PRICE for resident island youth - see message at top of this section.

July 18th – 20th: Blake Island Camping Trip (Register now) - LAST DAY TO CANCEL FOR REFUND: June 26
August 1st – 3rd: Blake Island Camping Trip (Register now) - LAST DAY TO CANCEL FOR REFUND: July 10

AI Youth Basketball Camp (1-Hr Day Camp, 10 sessions)

Islander Glenn Ryerson has once again offered to conduct our 3rd Annual Summer basketball camp - free of charge - for our island for boys and girls ages 8-12!

As an accommodation to working parents, we'll do a 5-week Thursday and Saturday schedule from 9:30-10:30am.

See the Youth Basketball page details about the program.

Sound View Camp (2-wk Overnight Camp) - HALF OFF

Right across the Sound from Andy's Marine Park in Longbranch, Sound View Camp brought us last year's camp adventure The Drayton Expedition, created specifically for our Youth Activities Program. This year, we're partnering with them again to send kiddos to their standard 2-week overnight camp session for youth ages 8-14.

AIPRD is offering full-time resident youth a COUPON FOR HALF OFF THE CAMP FEES, making this camp $262.50.

You can read more about the camp and session dates on their website: https://www.soundviewcamp.com/youth-camps (this is for the events listed as "Overnight Camp Session #")

To get this special pricing, please contact us at programs@andersonislandparks.org to get a COUPON CODE to use at checkout on Sound View's registration site. We are not taking registration through our site this year.

Supervised Field Trips (TBD)

We are still working on potential field trips for 2023 Summer. Stay tuned!

Want to Volunteer?

We can't do this without you! We've already had many wonderful members of our community step up to help us plan this amazing summer for our island kids, but we still need more help. Here's a starting list of volunteer opportunities, with more coming as we pin down our needs.

Volunteer Coordinator

With so many events coming, we really need someone to just help us keep track of who wants to give us a hand, where best they may fit, and make it easy for them to get involved. If you are looking for a volunteer opportunity that doesn't involve actually working with kids or attending activities, this may be your chance to help us!

Sailing Assistant

Captain Corey will need a volunteer to assist on each Wednesday sailing trip. You don't need to know how to sail, but comfort on the water and in a sailboat is a must. This volunteer role is primarily acting as an assistant with the youth on board, ensuring they have a go-to person when Captain Corey has the sailboat underway.

Nature Camp Group Leader

This will be our 13th annual Nature Camp, and we would love for you to join us in fostering a safe and enjoyable learning experience for our campers. We prefer to keep the Group Leaders consistent, so we're asking for 3 days of commitment. Many islanders have raved about the joy of giving to their community in this way, so contact our Camp Director, Bridgid Nelson, to learn what this role entails and if you can lend a hand!

Field Trip Chaperone

For each of the 4 field trips to NW Trek or Point. Defiance Zoo, we will need 1-2 chaperones to help monitor and guide 9 youth through the activities. Want to spend a fun day at some of our favorite wildlife destinations?

Youth Kayak Instructor or Chaperone

We love getting our youth out on the waters of Puget Sound. Would you like to join our volunteers who either teach or supervise kayak outings? Chat with Chuck about the opportunities coming up this summer!

Success Story of Summer 2022

Funding for the first year of the Youth Activities Program came from a grant made possible by Washington Recreation and Park Association (WRPA), and the Association of Washington Cities (AWC), administered on behalf of the Office of the Superintendent for Public Schools (OSPI).

The federal COVID-19 relief funds are being provided to OSPI to enable local parks and recreation agencies throughout our state to expand summer outdoor education programs offered to school-aged kids!

The purpose of the SEEK (Summer Experiences & Enrichment for Kids) Program is to increase access to quality outdoor summer programming for youth and communities who have historically been underserved and who have been most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

That funding made 2022 a magical summer for many kids on our island, increasing access to quality, outdoor summer programming for our community. It was great to see all we were able to accomplish with this additional funding for the Island youth this summer.

Here are some of the highlights:

We qualified 63 island youth for free programs through SEEK, with 50 officially registering for events.
Because Nature Camp and Youth Sailing were open to non-residents, we had a total of 85 children come through the program, with 132 total registrations across all the events.
We wanted to ensure island youth of all ages had programs to enjoy and we met that goal. 27% of participants were in kindergarten-2nd grade, 40% were in 3rd-5th, 20% were in 6th-8th, and 13% were in 9th-12th grades.

Offering programs from June 22nd until August 24th, made for a very busy and fun summer. We are so grateful for the community members who stepped up to lend a hand with these programs - we couldn’t have done it without you!

Anderson Island Park & Recreation District