DYS sponsors youth day, sports camp

The Division of Youth Services, through joint efforts with the CNMI Council for Arts and Culture, Division of Sports and Recreation and Saipan Mayor’s Office, coordinated a three-week-long fun-filled summer camp for nearly 200 youths whose ages ranged from 6 to 12 years old. The summer camp was divided into two sessions, the day camp, which took place from June 7-11, 2004, and the sports camp, which took place from June 14-25, 2004.

The initial activities during the day camp, spearheaded by the CNMI Council for Arts and Culture, included bead making, music, dancing, canoeing, swimming and health tips presented by the NMC CREES. Participants were grouped by age and so every child was able to get a feel for each.

The following two weeks was the sports camp at the Ada Gymnasium. With the coordination of the Division of Youth Services and the Division of Sports and Recreation, participants learned to enhance their skills in various sporting events that included soccer, basketball, teeball, track and field, volleyball, golf and obstacle course games. The participants enjoyed gaining more knowledge on basic skills and safety tips for the different sports offered.

This year marked the fifth Youth Summer Sports Camp activities. The Division of Youth Services implements yearly programs such as this to reduce the delinquency rate among the CNMI youths. The Division of Youth Services also works in collaboration with different government agencies to come up with community projects that serve as a means of intervention to curb delinquency rates. Such intervention programs play a vital part in helping produce positive attitudes and boost the self-esteem of the youths.

The yearly Sports and Day Camp has become a priority for the Division of Youth Services as it benefits CNMI youths both in the physical and social aspects of their growing years.

Every year parents are encouraged to register their child(ren) to participate in the camp. As students take off from school for the summer, the Summer Day and Sports Camp becomes a productive alternative as it opens doors for great learning experiences while having fun and making new friends at the same time.

The Volunteer Program at the Division of Youth Services was also able to recruit 30 volunteers under their program coupled with 23 other volunteers under the Workforce Investment Agency to assist during the camp. The volunteers led and guided the youth participants in the various activities during the camp.