Karen Kistler

karen.kistler@salisburypost.com

 

SALISBURY — Helping children and youth know they are loved and cared about plus giving them hope are what organizers of the Next Generation Academy Summer Camp want their campers to know.

Romar Morris, executive director of NGA, said what he wants students to take away from attending this camp is knowing that they have “somebody they can call on and look to no matter what.”

Some kids, he said, don’t have any hope, and he wants them to gain that as well.

Next Generation Academy, which is located in Salisbury, offers a variety of activities for youth including an afternoon program during the school year, plus football, track and field and cheerleading programs and the summer camp, which Morris said they are in the middle of now as they gathered in the media center at Salisbury High School for the morning portion of camp.

NGA’s mission, as noted on their website, is to “empower Rowan County students by modeling academic and athletic excellence through a lifestyle of faith and wellness,” which is done through these various programs.

Morris noted that approximately 120 students registered for the camp, with an average of 80-90 students attending each day. Some students go on trips with their parents and miss a week or so of the camp, but they average a good number in attendance.

This is the third summer that the camps have taken place, with three age groups enrolled, said Morris, including ages six to eight, nine to 11 and 12-14, and 23 counselors that mix and mingle with the campers plus help them with the various academic and athletic events that take place during the day. 

“We try to do a ratio of counselors to campers, so we have a really good ratio,” he said.

Registration for the camp takes place in early March, and it’s on a first-come, first-served basis, said Courtney Sawyer-Smith, who serves as the camp’s program director. All of the students must be registered by the end of May. However, if openings come up, they will reopen registration, she said. Information about registration and camp activities can be found on the NGA website during registration time.

Many of the children that attend the summer camp participate in other programs that NGA offers, including playing on their football or track and field teams or do cheerleading for them, said Morris, and many of them also take part in their afterschool program, which is held in their permanent building located on the Catawba College campus.

Summer camp for the NGA campers provides some structured time for both academics and fun outdoor time, and gives them something to do during the summer, he said.

A normal day of camp begins with a devotion, breakfast for the kids and then, “we go over our expectations, set the foundation for camp each and every day and then after that we move into an academic portion from 10 a.m. to noon so they are doing some sort of academics,” said Morris.

Thanks to the Margaret Woodson Foundation, he said they were able to purchase 50 laptops to enable the students to participate in some IXL work, which is a learning-based software to track their progress.

This will help “keep their minds fresh throughout the summer so they’re not just playing games or doing whatever, but they’re actually doing some type of learning,” said Morris.

In addition to academics, they also participate in team building exercises. One day, groups were using cups and stacking them to build pyramids. To do this, they had to only use rubber bands and string to pick up the cups, and not with their hands. They had to come up with plans and make decisions on how they would build their pyramid, he said.

Following the morning’s events, the students have lunch and then they are divided up and have a sport of the day.

“So we try to do some type of physical activity. We try to make it fun because yes we want them to be scholar athletes but it’s still summertime, we don’t want to be stuck in here all day,” said Morris. So they tell the children if they will work for a set time on their academics, then the “rest of the day, be a kid.”

Following academic time on June 18, they were provided with fruit kabobs which they took outside to enjoy during free time. As one group was waiting on the remaining kids to be served their fruit, they were playing games, throwing a football or doing some chalk art. Once all had finished eating, games of wiffle ball were organized and enjoyed.

Every Thursday, the students are taken on a field trip, said Morris, “which is part of our Next Generation Exposure Project that we’re doing,” and this includes taking the students to “different places and allowing them to see different opportunities.”

The trips are varied and so far, the students have gone to the North Carolina Zoo, a trip to Wake Forest University and the latest on June 19 was a visit to Skyzone Trampoline Park.

During their visit to Wake Forest, they were given a tour of the campus by Juke Harris, Salisbury High School alumni and basketball standout at Salisbury and a current member of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

“The kids loved him,” said Morris. “He signed everybody’s shirts. He was amazing, amazing. A lot of them looked up to him as a hometown hero.”

He added that many of the students have dreams to attend college, so being able to tour a campus like Wake Forest was amazing.

A former professional athlete himself, Morris said some of the kids know this, and some don’t and he is just seen at Coach Ro, which he said “is cool. I just love giving them hope.”

Sawyer-Smith, who oversees the program and makes sure there are activities and a daily schedule as well as making sure that the counselors have someone to report to, said this was her first year to work at the camp, but her son has attended for three years and loves it.

Camper Guy Campbell said that he was having fun at the camp, and Ashton Hines and Zion Bagley shared that going to the gym and the games were their favorite parts of the day.

She noted that the ones who attend it love being able to interact with each other and see friends from school and connect with other students that attend different schools across the county.

“They love that we go on a field trip every Thursday, and they love all of the sports that we do in the afternoons,” she said, and while the enrichment portion that they do every day may not be their favorite part, “it is helpful to them so they can get ready for the next academic school year.”

Helping the students during that time, assisting those who might need that extra bit of help is one of the things the counselors provide.

Kendall Henderson, who is serving as a counselor, said she loved to help the kids out.

She first started working with the 12-14 year-olds and is now helping with the 6-8 year-olds.

“It’s a really big change,” she said, but added, “it’s fun working with all the kids,” noting they help with sports and academics.

Helping at the camp has been “a really nice opportunity,” adding that it was also good when she was applying for college to note that she had helped with children.

Plus, Henderson said, they are Christian-based and they do lots of Bible studies to help the children as well, “getting them to know the Lord and also academics and sports and everything like that,” she said.

Others wishing to help and volunteer may reach out to NGA and receive a volunteer form and information on how to provide assistance.

While not a school, Morris said they were praying for that for the future, but they do provide resources and services, and help in conjunction with the school system, talking with teachers, keeping up with the students report cards and offering help with students that are struggling with reading or math.

Morris said that they love the community and the county and providing this help for the children, and because of this, he said, “that’s why we pour our hearts into it.”

For more information about the program, go to ngadefenders.com.