Every summer when school lets out at Selby Lane Elementary School in Atherton, the after-school academic support program turns into a full summer camp, providing daily academic enrichment, physical exercise, and healthy meals to underserved youth living in Redwood City.
Nearly 100 kids from lower-income families in Redwood City attend this seven-week summer camp, which provides them with six hours of academics and physical activity, while keeping them healthy and fed, according to Summer Camp Director Cesar Zuninga.
“Pretty much all the children come from families with parents working two or more jobs,” said Recreation Specialist Karen Renkel. Although the tuition is only $100 per student, there is always a high, and growing, demand for financial aid. About 90 percent of the current students qualify for free lunches, while many students even quality for free tuition, said Mr. Zuninga.
The goal of this summer program, known as REACH, is not only to provide a fun learning environment for the students, but to support the families of the students, Ms. Renkel said. When the kids are at camp, parents are able to work without paying a babysitter, which can be a huge problem financially.
“We have a school garden that provides fresh vegetables for the families,” she said.
Since a large part of the summer program is devoted to academic intervention and support, the staff is in close contact with teachers, making sure that the students have what they need to come back to school ready to be successful in the classroom, Ms. Renkel said.
“REACH was very important to me,” said Joeslin Valverde, a REACH alumnus, a student at Foothill College, and now a REACH program leader at Selby Lane Elementary. Because of her close ties to the Redwood City community and the personal impact that REACH made in her own life and academics, Joselin has decided to spend her summers helping build the program.
“It’s been growing,” Mr. Zuninga said. And as the program grows, so do its financial demands. The program is currently funded by grants from the California Department of Education’s After School Education and Safety program as well as from 21st Century Learning Centers, but donations to help supply sporting equipment, arts and crafts, snacks, and lunches are always helpful, Mr. Zuninga said.
“We just became a community school the last two years,” he said, which in part means that Second Harvest will be establishing a food bank, and may be supplying lunches in the future. As for now, Second Harvest’s involvement is limited to assisting in supplying snacks, which often isn’t enough to feed everyone. The school district is currently the main entity responsible for providing lunches and snacks, according to Mr. Zuninga.
There are currently no private grants that the Selby Lane REACH program can make use of, although in the past a private donation from the Woodside-Atherton Gardening Club made it possible to build a garden for the students, who work in the garden and take vegetables home with them.
Go to is.gd/reach17 for more information about REACH Redwood City. To donate or volunteer, contact Cesar Zuninga at czuninga@rcsdk8.net, Selby Lane Elementary School at (650) 482-2415, or the Redwood City Parks and Recreation department at (650) 780-7250.
