CitCo Provides Range of Summer Opportunities for City Kids

While classes are on pause for the summer, Belize City’s young people are staying busy. Instead of spending their vacation at home, dozens of children are hitting the basketball court, brushing up on academics, and even rolling out yoga mats in the park through a series of free summer programs offered by the Belize City Council. The initiative is helping families save money while giving children a safe, fun, and productive way to spend their break. Shane Williams has more.

 

Shane Williams, Reporting

Once again, the Belize City Council is ensuring that children in this municipality has positive skill building and relationship building activities to engage in during their summer vacation. Here at the Bird’s Isle court, over forty talented and energetic aspiring young hoopers gather every day in the afternoon to learn the basics of organized basketball from coach Roscoe Rhys CitCo’s interoffice champions Auburn Rivero and Kevin Hamilton.

 

Bernard Wagner, Belize City Mayor

“We invite our resident in the city to continue to support these programs. It is an opportunity for the city to engage with our youths, with our children – have them be in a positive environment during the course of the summer.”

 

The highlight of the peewee camp over the years has been game day, when the participants finally get to suit up for an official game and their city leaders distribute supplies on the sidelines and demos on the court.

 

Bernard Wagner

“It’s always a good activity where you have the Peewee participants play a game. And at the end of the game, there is… we give out backpacks. We give out school supplies. Footwear as well.  I think we’ll be doing some footwear this year as well. And then you have the opportunity to really see the councillors and I’m thinking myself but I’m not certain yet. I’m still recovering from the victory in the over forty-five.”

 

For kids who are more concerned with sharpening up their academic tools ahead of the new school year, the City Hub offers English and Math classes. Today over twenty kids actively participated in teacher Dennis Thompson’s comprehension lesson on the Prodigal Son.

 

Michael Fritz, Programs Manager, Belize City Council

“ For those who might not know, the Belize City Council since 2023 has been coordinating educational assistance through our student hubs, offering free homework assistance, mentoring, and tutoring. We are taking it a bit further, and we did realize that there is a gap in terms of literacy, so why not utilize the summer amidst all of the fun, amidst all of the learning, to go back to the basics of math and English?”

 

Summer programs like these cost parents upwards of two hundred dollars per week. At the Belize City Hub, these students get valuable lessons from a reputable teacher free of cost. Children who want to escape from boredom at home or the stress of annoying siblings can sign up for yoga in the park on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons with instructor Eda Arzu.  The council offers a variety of options recommended by its Child Advisory Body, giving children with a wide range of hobbies opportunities to engage in positive activities of their liking. Shane Williams for News Five.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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