Mayor Durkan Announces Summer Programs for Youth

From the Mayor's Communications office:

Mayor Jenny Durkan Announces City of Seattle Summer Programs for Youth & Their Families

Seattle (June 6, 2019) – Seattle Mayor Jenny A. Durkan announced today the City of Seattle’s summer programs for youth and families across Seattle. To help ensure more equitable access to opportunity and safer communities, these summer programs range from investments in career development, to continuing education, to sports and recreation, to community services and safety.

“We have a responsibility to help young people and their families thrive when school gets out for the summer. These important summer programs help ensure that more of Seattle’s kids have equitable access to career development, education, outdoors and recreation, and vital services, ” said Mayor Durkan. “We know that investing in safe and affordable summer programs for our kids not only benefits our young people, it helps ensure our families don’t have to worry about childcare. Investing in true opportunity means working year-round to build safer communities and help prepare our young people for success in school, their career, and beyond.”

The following City of Seattle summer 2019 youth programs are available and have capacity:

Recreation & Camps

Each summer, Seattle’s young people and their families are encouraged to visit one of our many parks, pools, and community centers.

Seattle Police Activities League

Description: The SPD runs the Seattle Police Activities League (SeaPAL), which is a proactive, prevention-oriented strategy that builds relationships between SPD officers and young people through sports and cultural enrichment. This year, SeaPAL will host the following activities:

• Flag football at Genesee Park
• Basketball at Magnuson Park
• Baseball at South Park Community Center
• Four summer youth athletic camps at Miller, Rainier Beach, South Park, and Bitter Lake Community Centers

SeaPAL programs are administered throughout the year, and serve approximately 600 young people between the ages of five and 18.

Contact: For more information on SeaPAL, visit this web page.

Summer Day Camps and Activity Camps

Description: Each summer, Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) holds hundreds of weekly camps with themes ranging from sports, to the arts, to science, and more, for kids ages three through 17. These programs are fee-based, with opportunities for scholarships, and they run from June 24 – August 30.

Contact: Registration is still open for many camps. Please explore this online brochure for detailed information on all available programs.

Career Development

City of Seattle Summer Internships

Description: The Seattle Department of Human Resources (SDHR) oversees recruitment for 124 summer internships with the City of Seattle. The SDHR Internship Program supports, on a quarterly basis, City departments in creating and administering meaningful work experiences that complement a student’s educational goals, add value to City work, and build a pool of competitive candidates for the City’s future workforce needs. 

Contact: Many summer internships with the City of Seattle are still seeking applicants. For more information, please visit this website.

Seattle Police Department Youth Employment

Description: The Seattle Police Department (SPD) Youth Employment program will serve 45 young people this summer. This SPD program is designed to create an opportunity for young people to learn and understand SPD practices while engaging with the community in a variety of activities. Participants will gain experience learning about crime prevention through environmental design, and how our environment can impact crime patterns.

Contact: For more information on this program, please contact Sgt. Oscar Gardea at Oscar.gardea@seattle.gov.

Career Connected Learning Grants

Description: This year, the Office of Economic Development (OED) announced its first-ever Career Connected Learning Grants, which are funding nine local organizations to increase job readiness competencies for young people ages 14-24. These grants will fund programs that help young people develop important employability skills like problem-solving and time management, while at the same time introducing them to rewarding careers available in our local economy. The nine organizations receiving funding will collaborate with local employers on programs that will serve youth of color, immigrants and refugees, low-income young people, young people experiencing homelessness or housing instability, opportunity young people and/or English language learners. Most of these programs will run throughout the rest of 2019 while others will continue into 2020, serving approximately 700 Seattle young people across all nine organizations.

Contact: Grant applications are currently closed, and young people can learn more about these programs through our funded partners. We encourage you to read this blog post for more information.

Lifeguard Training Team

Description: Seattle Parks and Recreation’s (SPR) Lifeguard Training Team provides young people important career readiness training while building community at our Seattle beaches. The Lifeguard Training Team runs from June 24 – August 15 and serves 50 Seattle young people.

Contact: The Lifeguard Training Team at Mount Baker Beach is still accepting applications. To learn more about this and other aquatics employment opportunities, please visit this website. 

In addition, the Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL) invests over $3,990,000 in 2018 – 2019 to support 49 organizations and programs working to provide Seattle students fun and enriching summer learning opportunities.

With these programs, students have the chance to participate in summer educational camps to experience hands-on learning in a variety of career fields and courses, visit college campuses, and fuel their own determination to learn and aspire to what comes next after high school.

Equity in Education

The Seattle Public Library’s Summer of Learning

Description: The Seattle Public Library’s (SPL) Summer of Learning features over 300 free programs for early learners, children, teens, and families at 27 library locations and at community partner sites. This year SPL is featuring librarian-led Bug Safari programs, designed to get kids, ages nine and up, outside, exploring nature, and contributing to science research through the iNaturalist app. Young people and families can also pick up an early learners flier with activities that support kindergarten readiness, a Summer Action Guide filled with a reading game, activities and puzzles for children ages six through nine, and a teen Bingo card. SPL’s Summer of Learning runs from June 24 – September 6.

Contact: For more information about the Summer of Learning, please visit this web page, or call 206-386-4636.

Community Learning Center Summer Programs

Description: SPR Community Learning Center (CLC) summer programs are designed to help students retain their studies while they are out of school, and support academic enrichment, recreation, and social and emotional learning for low-income students. The CLC hosts My Brother’s Keeper and My Sister’s Keeper mentoring programs as well. The CLC is open from July 8 – August 2, and serves 860 middle school students.

Contact: For more information on CLC programs, including locations, please visit this website.

Community Services and Public Safety

Summer Meal Program

Description: The Human Services Department (HSD) funds a summer meal program to provide no-cost breakfasts, lunches, and snacks for kids and teens ages one - 18 at more than 120 sites across Seattle and Tukwila. Closed program sites must serve predominantly low-income children and youth. Open sites are located in low-income Census track areas and have no eligibility requirements and do not require an application or collect any information. Both types of sites are open to serve youth regardless of their families’ immigration status. More than 200,000 meals will be served during summer 2019. The 2019 program runs from Monday, July 1 through Friday, August 23.

Contact: To find the site closest to you, use the Summer Meals Search Tool. For more information on this program, please visit this website, or contact the program administrators at  SFSP@seattle.gov or (206) 386-1140.

Rainier Beach Summer Engagement

Description: SPD is participating in a series of summer engagement activities to advance public safety and build community between SPD officers and Rainier Beach young people. SPD youth-focused activities in Rainier Beach include:

• Monthly “Ice Cream with a Cop” series to foster community
• Partnering with several other City departments and the Rainier Beach Merchants to advance economic opportunity for young people
• Youth basketball events at the Rainier Beach Community Center
• Working with local young artists to develop and paint a mural on the Rainier Beach Safeway that is culturally responsive and represents the community.
• Detective Cookie chess club 

Contact: For more information on SPD programming for young people in Rainier Beach, please contact Sgt. Heidi Tuttle at Heidi.Tuttle@seattle.gov.