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City presents summer youth program recap: 650 drop-in visits, youth business fair and 11 employment slots
Summary
City staff summarized summer youth activities including a youth business fair, Game On program at Lake Street Playground, 650 recorded drop-in visits and a summer youth employment program that hired 11 high school students.
Rachel Manning, the city's community relations manager, presented a summary of the city's summer youth programs during the Sept. 8 work session.
Manning said the summer season began in May with the city's first youth business fair at the Newton Community Center, which hosted 12 young entrepreneurs selling handmade goods. The city's Newton drop-in program recorded 650 visits between July 1 and Aug. 22, she said. Activities included gardening (the city was allocated two raised beds at the Camden Community Garden this year), cooking, arts and crafts, video and music production, and at least one field trip to the zoo. Manning said free lunches were provided by Wicomico County Public Schools Food and Nutrition Services for most of the summer, with the city covering the final three weeks; Dover Street Grill supplied meals during that city-funded period.
Manning described “Game On” at Lake Street Playground as a new program that ran July 1–Aug. 22 and drew between 10 and 25 youth per day, with occasional larger groups from summer camps. The city hosted a summer youth employment program that employed 11 high-school students part time from June 23 to Aug. 15 across departments including field operations, arts and culture, HCDD, the zoo and the police department.
Manning said she plans to grow the youth business fair in future years and noted transportation limited field-trip opportunities this summer. She promoted Park Fest, the end-of-summer event scheduled Friday at Salisbury City Park by the bandstand from 5 to 7 p.m.; the event will include games, hot dogs and free activities.
Council members thanked Manning and asked staff to post a summary and photos/videos of the summer programs on the city website and social media. Manning said she has photos and videos available and will provide them for publication.
Why it matters: the programs provided supervised activities and employment opportunities for young residents, free lunches during the summer and had measurable participation.
