Ludlow recreation program keeps boredom away
Toolbox
By JOSH O’GORMAN STAFF WRITER - Published: July 7, 2009
LUDLOW — For some children, summer vacation is three months of television and boredom, but about 70 Okemo Valley youths are keeping their minds limber, following their artistic muse and engaging in acts of public service.
The Ludlow Recreation Department’s summer program — which runs 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday until Aug. 21 and serves children in first through eighth grade — has been augmented this year through a $34,630 grant from Okemo Community Challenge.
The foundation, which raises its money through its annual Ski Ball in January, awarded the grant to the Rutland-Windsor Supervisory Union. Superintendent Judy Pullinen said much of the money is used to pay for scholarships for 23 children to take part in the program, which costs $50 a week for Ludlow residents and $75 a week for nonresidents.
Money is also used to provide healthy snacks for the kids, said Okemo Community Challenge co-chairwoman Lisa Schmidt.
“We have a lot of kids in the district on free and reduced lunch, so that can be a problem during the summer,” Schmidt said.
The remaining money is used to provide leaders and supplies for art and public service projects. This week, the children are working on a Shakespeare production to be staged at Town Hall some time in the future, said Brigid Sullivan, coordinator for the Black River Area Community Coalition.
“It’s exciting because the grant has had a huge impact on the kids, but the kids will have a huge impact on the community,” Sullivan said.
In addition to acting, Sullivan said, kids will engage in a number of public service works, including painting the town’s fire hydrants and planting flower beds in front of the Ludlow Armory. They will also participate in a ropes course and create a video for public access channel LPCTV, all with the purpose of building leadership skills.
The public service activities continue in Mount Holly, where students will digitize documents for the Mount Holly Historical Society and plant a garden, said Mount Holly School Principal Craig Hutt Vater.
They will also keep their academic skills sharp with math and literacy activities, but he stressed the activities are fun and not just summer school.
“To have folks like Okemo support this is invaluable,” he said. “We could not do this without them.”
There is still time to enroll in the summer activities. For more information, including a brochure and enrollment forms, visit www.ludlow.vt.us.
josh.ogorman@rutlandherald.com
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