Youth Center takes advantage of summer sun during day camps Published June 4, 2012 By Airman 1st Class Earlandez Young 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- Starting June 20, the youth center will be extending their hours from 6:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. for kids ages 6-12. "We take advantage of the summer weather especially during expanded hours," said John Smith, Fairchild's youth programs chief. "We take trips to the outdoor pool and utilize Miller Park for a variety of field activities." Smith said biking, trail hiking and other off-base activities will be implemented in the youth center's curriculum in addition to other on-base field trips. Some of the attractions they will visit are the Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge and Manito Park. "We try to keep the kids active and the activities educational," said Ryan Frost, the youth center's youth sports manager. Frost has hosted numerous sport camps during past years. He said the kids seem to like the camps, and the idea behind offering the camps is for kids to gear up toward whichever sport they're going to be playing. "Last summer, we offered a football, basketball and tennis camp," Frost said. "We received great feedback from parents last year, so this year we are bringing the same summer camps back along with one new camp, which will be volleyball camp." Children will also be doing some community service off base this summer. In conjunction with the other youth programs, kids who attend the youth center will be planting a summer garden. Assisting them with the garden will be a master gardener provided by a program called Master Gardener, in which avid gardeners are provided many hours of intense home horticulture training, and in return they "pay back" local university extension agents through volunteerism. Second Harvest, a local area food bank whose mission is to end hunger through community partnerships, will be donating all kinds of vegetable seeds to the youth programs for this project. "In return, after seeds are planted and as youth center kids harvest plants and produce, they will take a large portion of those and donate them back to Second Harvest distributing them out to those in need in the Spokane community," said Smith. The child development center and the teen center will also be contributing with this project as they will show teamwork, teach and assist the younger children with gardening. [Editor's Note: This is part two of a three-part series highlighting how the 92nd Force Support Squadron's youth programs change as Fairchild embraces summer.]