Mayor Gavin Newsom: Summertime is for youth

One of San Francisco's greatest assets is, and always has been, its young people - the next generation of doctors, professors, entrepreneurs, artists and, yes, even our future mayors. As parents, role models and stewards of this fine city, we have a responsibility to invest in our youths' future and foster environments that are non-violent, healthy and positive.

With school out and summer in full swing, our focus is now on how we can best keep our young people off the streets, away from the television set and engaged in activities that are active, meaningful, memorable and, of course, fun.

Our city's Recreation and Park Department offers an array of quality, affordable activities and programs for kids of all ages. Some of these programs are traditional ones - trusty standards like the ones you and I may have participated in when we were youngsters. Others are new, innovative programs that cater to the interests of today's youth.

If you haven't done so in a while, I invite you to take a closer look at what Rec. and Park has to offer this summer.

Day Camps

Our city's day camp programs continue to be some of the most popular programs in the City year after year, offering a variety of themes from sports and the arts to cooking and nature. Other specialty camps include a science camp run by the Randall Museum and Art in the Park camp at the Sharon Art Studio in Golden Gate Park.

Latchkey

Our city's after-school Latchkey Program provides full-time programming for school-age children during the summer. With more than 20 sites throughout the City, Latchkey is one of our more popular and affordable summer programs, serving hundreds of kids each year at just $20 per week. Activities include sports, arts and crafts, games, basic cooking lessons and weekly field trips to Bay Area amusement parks.

Aquatics

Learning to swim at one of San Francisco's nine public swimming pools is almost a prerequisite for city residents. Swimming lessons are available daily, Monday through Friday, or if your kids just want to do some recreational swimming, they can float around to their hearts' content every day of the week. Take a dip in the city's most recently remodeled pools, King Pool and the North Beach Pool.

Project Insight

Project Insight's programs for the deaf and visually impaired serve young people, ages 6 to 19, with recreation-based programs focusing on building physical, social and living skills.ÊPrograms are conducted in American Sign Language, but students of all language abilities are accepted into the programs.

Photography

Center Boasting one of the largest public dark rooms in the state, the city's photography center at the Harvey Milk Recreational Arts Building is a popular venue to learn the basics of photography or to hone your already talented shutterbug skills. The center provides an array of summer classes for both beginners and advanced photographers, including summer flower photography and black-and-white photography for teen-agers.

Special Events

The SF Recreation and Park Department also has special summer days lined up for youths, including the annual Play Day in Golden Gate Park, co-sponsored by the San Francisco Parks Trust, July 7. Play Day features free games, merry-go-round rides, a fun obstacle course and live entertainment. The Stern Grove Festival also provides a fun and interactive series of arts education programs for children, ages 4 to 14, including music workshops on July 12, Aug. 16 and Aug. 17. All of this, of course, is just a sampling of the wide spectrum of affordable and accessible activities Rec. and Park has to offer this summer. Every year, the City provides teens with a summer employment program, toddlers with daily music and movement classes and families with camping opportunities at Camp Mather in the Sierra Mountains at Yosemite National Park.

For more information on any of the programs mentioned here, the Recreation and Park Department's public information office can be reached at (415) 831-2782, or you can go to the department's Web Site at http://parks.sfgov.org.

Get out and play. Enjoy your summer!

Gavin Newsom is the mayor of San Francisco.