Sweet summertime

Eleven-year-old Meadowlark Elementary School students Aliyah Smith and her friend, Jadyn Stewart, were excited to visit Wildcat Glades Conservation and Audubon Center in Joplin Friday morning.

The two friends were on a field trip with about 60 Pittsburg USD 250 third, fourth and fifth graders who went on the trip as part of the district’s summer Youth Wellness Camp — a total of 80 students are enrolled. For Smith and Stewart, the trip was a chance to see something new in an outdoor setting.

“We got to see some cool birds you wouldn’t normally see in Pittsburg, and we got to see some cool flowers,” Smith said.

Stewart agreed.

“We saw a lot of things we don’t get to see in Pittsburg,” she said.

The field trip was part of the broader Youth Wellness Camp that is held at Pittsburg Community Middle School from June 2 through June 22. It combines a variety of fitness activities, such as yoga and dance in the school’s gymnasiums, with classroom health awareness sessions, co-ordinator Sharon Sisk said.

The district previously had held the National Youth Sports Program in partnership with Pittsburg State University, but funding ran out and the program was canceled.
Three years later, the district has received a grant from the United States Department of Education’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers program and was able to reinstate the program.

Aside from the fitness programs, the camp also feeds the kids healthy breakfast and lunch meals free of charge that are organized around three main nutrition areas: meat and bread, milk, and fruits and vegetables. Any USD student up to age 18 can also come eat free, regardless of whether they’re participating in the camp.
Breakfast is at 8 a.m. and lunch is at noon.

“They get to try all kinds of different things,” said site supervisor and PCMS baker Megan Kelley. “It give the kids somewhere to eat. I with when I was younger we would have had this program.”

The camp also is a place where families in which both parents work can leave their children and know they’ll be OK.

“These are all teachers who care about kids,” Sisk said. “They can see the change in the kids, and they know they’ve learned something for themselves. The kids are safe, and their parents know they’re safe.”

Meadowlark Elementary fifth grader Fernando Gonzales, 11, said he looks forward to the camp every day.

“I like that we get to work out a lot and get to be healthy,” Gonzales said Tuesday after the students held and egg dropping contest. “It gives me energy and keeps me entertained a lot.”

Nine-year-old Emma Fischer agreed.

“We have a sit-down class, then an active class, then another sit-down class and another active class,” Fischer said, also on Tuesday. “We can be healthy in a way that’s fun. Being at home might not be as fun as this.”

At Friday’s field trip the students were introduced to several species of plants, birds, mammals and reptiles. They were then given checklists and turned loose in groups to wander the trails and see what they could find.

“I was amazed that a lot of them haven’t been to a place like this,” Meadowlark second grade teacher Abby Graham said. “It’s fun to see them use their skills and focus in and have fun.”

Eleven-year-old Doug Page said he had been successful in his search.

“I saw a bird that was black but had one spot on its head, and I saw 13 dragonflies,” Page said. “And it’s cool to know that the trees take in the CO2 we breathe out. I had fun.”