Popular summer program still has vacancies

There’s good news for parents who to keep their school-aged children active during summer break.

Officials with the Pahrump Valley Youth Activities program announced several vacancies are still open in their summer activities program, which got underway May 31.

The program offers numerous supervised, fun and educational activities through July 27.

Coordinator Denise Koch said she and her staff have roughly 170 kids, ages six to 12, participating at present.

The venue is J.G. Johnson Elementary School, located at 900 Jackrabbit Street off Calvada Boulevard.

“Things are going great and we are very busy as always, and it’s a lot of fun,” she said. “We have more than five spots left, so parents can get their kids enrolled on a first-come, first-serve basis. All they have to do is log onto our website and download the registration form and get it in.”

Koch said the program actually fills the gap between the end of the school year and the beginning of the new school year.

The program operates Monday through Friday, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., providing breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack.

The kids stay busy during that time by rotating through seven different activities all day long.

“The program goes beyond just fun and games,” Koch said. “We actually have the Nye County School District on board with us and they provide three school teachers. We also have a reading program as well as computers this year.”

Koch noted that she and her staff have received nothing but good feedback for the program.

“We had kids that pitched fits because their parents came too early to pick them up and they were going to miss a class that they wanted to go to,” she said. “That’s a nice problem to have.”

Additionally, Koch said the program has the biggest staff ever, due to the popularity among parents and children.

“We have about 26 staff members this year and we team with NyE Communities Coalition to get the Youth Werks and the AmeriCorps youth involved,” she said. “Parents can log on to www.pvya.net and download the registration form, and then drop it off to Tom Metzger at the Juvenile Probation office at 1520 East Basin # 106, next to the courthouse.”

Participants were recently treated to several routines, courtesy of Pahrump’s award winning VIP All-Stars Cheer Dance and Gymnastics team.

For more information on enrollment, call Denise Koch at 702 339-4603.

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com.