Basketball Training And Recreation For Kids
Summer Basketball camps usually focus on recreation or on helping children with athletic or academic skills, but students from four schools in Hamilton County have been attending a camp to learn better behavior.
"I used to have a negative opinion of everyone when I first met them, but now I give everyone a chance," said Vicky Vandergriff, a 16-year-old sophomore at Aiken High School. "This camp can change your attitude and personality for the better."
Ms. Vandergriff is one of 19 students attending one of the four camps coordinated by the Hamilton County Family and Children First Council. The Aiken camp has provided a work program for students and lessons in appropriate workplace behavior and dress.
The high school students are paid minimum wage to do jobs at the school and to mentor younger children at one of the other camps. The camp also has tried to place the students in jobs outside the school.
"Some of the students had never been able to get a job, and many of those who did couldn't keep it due to coming in late or not being able to take orders," said Patty Eber, the council's executive director. "We worked a lot with conflict resolution and anger management. One of our most difficult students when camp started was just placed in a job, and she is ecstatic."
Only two students dropped out of the camp, which began in June. Eight students have been placed in jobs, and officials are hopeful that they can place the remaining 11 students in jobs by fall.
The other three camps involve students from two elementary schools and one middle school. Students attending those camps were provided with meals, and their parents were required to pay a fee of $25.
Most of the camps' funding came from money provided by various private and public agencies in the county that support children's services and are members of the council. Each county in Ohio had a similar council created in 1993 by former Gov. George Voinovich to coordinate services among agencies that help children. Every council comes up with its own programs to best serve its county.
"We think our program is innovative, and I'm not aware of anything just like it in other counties," said Ms. Eber. Officials with the Ohio Family and Children First Initiative did not return calls seeking comment about other programs in the state. Ms. Eber said the council tried to gear camps to a school's specific needs.
For instance, the council tried to work with kindergartners at Gamble Elementary on anger management after teachers there noted an unusually high amount of aggression among kids in the age group.
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