YMCA Summer Camps

By Adam Cook

The days are getting longer and parents are hearing the echoes of last year’s summer vacation: “I’m bored!”

In reply, many parents are hurriedly racing to GotCamp.org and registering their children for the day and sleep-away camp programs run by the Akron Area YMCA. It could be some of these parents also hear the echoes of water splashing and fire crackling, and want to pass along the reverberating experience of summer camp. 

Akron Area YMCA day camps channel children’s teeming curiosity and abundance of energy over summer vacation.

“At day camp, they’re engaged—outside and unplugged,” says Wadsworth YMCA Executive Director Maureen Mizerak.

Wadsworth YMCA day camps are accredited by the American Camp Association (ACA). Between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, children take part in a variety of activities centered on a weekly theme.

“The ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’ week, like every week, starts at Grizzly Outdoor Pool, but then later in the week we’ll take a field trip to an Akron RubberDucks game,” says Wadsworth YMCA Program Director Ryan Reavy. “Fridays we’re always back in the pool.” 

Children can also take part in specialty camps, learning to ride at equestrian camp and immersing themselves in the world of Harry Potter at literary camp. Akron Area YMCA day camps relay “character and confidence” from the end of one school year to the start of the next.

“With a little bit of coaching from counselors and their peers, children may find they do things they would be too shy to do in a school setting,” says Akron Area YMCA Director of Marketing & Communications Judi Christy. “There’s a transformation.”

YMCA Camp Y-Noah has defined summers for generations of children. For over 80 years, the 250-acre ACA accredited camp in Clinton, OH has been a break from routine—a place for canoeing, climbing, horseback riding, swimming, arts and crafts, creek stomping and more that will have to wait for letters home. Children between the ages of six and 17 can experience the sleep-away camp for a week or multiple weeks.

YMCA Camp Y-Noah packs more than a break from routine. Campers discover friendships and abilities that carry through their lives.

“We’re extremely committed,” says Judy. “A lot of the leadership at the Y started out as campers.”

The Leaders in Training (LIT) program passes the torch. LIT is a two-week leadership program for 15- and 16 -year-olds. Many participants choose to return in following summers to take part in the four-week Counselor-in-Training (CIT) program, and to continue in the Y’s long tradition of making a difference.

In 1995, the Akron Area YMCA partnered with The Rotary Camp for Children with Special Needs. Since 1924, The Rotary Camp has given children with special needs the sense of independence and discovery that comes from spending a week at summer camp. Nature opens up through sensory activities. 

The Rotary Camp reserves a place for siblings as well. Brothers and sisters of special needs children cabin and participate in traditional camp activities with their peers. Siblings witness the accomplishments of their brother or sister with special needs—a shared experience that contributes to an enduring change in perspective. Siblings strengthen and corroborate stories first told around the campfire, and echoed at home, around the dinner table.

The Wadsworth YMCA is a collaboration between the City of Wadsworth, Summa Health, Wadsworth Library and Wadsworth City Schools, located at 623 School Drive in Wadsworth. The phone number is 330-334-9622.