Children in USD 257 will be flying high this summer, as SAFE BASE brings back its summer program starting next week.
Each of the four weeks features a unique theme, with educational events throughout the week and a field trip.
This year, the groups will be going to a zoo, a wildlife preserve, an aquatic park and a museum featuring Amelia Earhart. Older students will even get to go ziplining.
There’s still time to sign up for the adventure. Children can participate for just one week at a time, or can sign up for all four weeks. Parents and guardians can even get in on the fun too, by accompanying their student on the weekly field trips.
To sign up, call 620-365-4780.
The program is available for students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Children must have completed their kindergarten year to participate.
The summer program runs from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday at Jefferson Elementary School, with an all-day field trip on Thursdays. The first week will differ slightly because of the Memorial Day holiday.
The summer program is returning after a five-year hiatus because of a lack of funding. It previously was funded by grant. The USD 257 school board, though, agreed to fund three years of the program.
SAFE BASE director Angela Henry said she’s excited to be able to offer the program again. It’s also a chance to give area children to adventures they may not otherwise have, and provide an educational component in a fun way they’ll remember.
“I think kids can become pretty stagnant in the summer. They were isolated even before COVID,” Henry said. “We want to get kids out from in front of a screen and expose them to as many different opportunities as possible.”
The activities were selected based on surveys of students. They wanted to go to the zoo, wanted to go to a water park and especially wanted to go ziplining, Henry said.
Students missed out on field trips this past school year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which makes the program even more desirable, Henry said.
One event, a tour of the Hangar Museum in Atchison to learn about Amelia Earhart, will explore a museum before it’s even been opened to the public. It features the only remaining Lockheed Electra 10-E plane left in the world, the same kind of plane Earhart was flying when she disappeared.
A breakdown of each week’s events includes:
Week 1 – June 1-4
