Reopening Ohio: Summer camps beginning despite COVID-19

DAYTON — The coronavirus pandemic has forced many summer camps to close. There are some locations in the Miami Valley hosting camps with many changes to accommodate Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for COVID-19.

Monday, June 22, was the first day of summer camp at two of Dayton Recreation Center locations.

Because of coronavirus, a lot of changes have been made to make sure children stay safe when they walk through the camp’s doors.

“There’s a lot of cities that are not offering camp, so I am glad we are able to do it,” said Lisa Barhorst, recreation program coordinator for Dayton’s three recreation centers.

“They have been inside of their houses since March, and this will give them an outlet to be able to socialize with other kids – because a lot of them may be at home by themselves. It also gives their parents somewhere to take their kids so they’re not with them 24/7.”

But kids will notice this year’s summer camp looks a lot different than years past. Barhorst said the recreation center is only offering summer camp at two of their locations: Northwest and Lohrey. They’ve also had to cut the number of campers from 80 to 27 per site.

“We still have two counselors per age group, so they are able to do the sanitization after we rotate and make sure the kids are washing their hands more often,” Barhorst said.

Campers must leave all their personal belongings, such as backpacks, at home. Before coming into the building, campers must go through a health screening that includes having their temperatures taken.

If campers don’t have a mask, they are given one at the door. Lunches are grab-and-go and surfaces are regularly sanitized.

“We are also not able to do field trips, which is unfortunate,” Barhorst said. “But we are looking to have other programs come into the centers.”

Games at the summer camp are played in larger spaces, like the gymnasium, which allows campers and staff to follow social distancing guidelines.

“Kids need to be able to be kids, and I don’t feel like they have been able to be kids,” said Barhorst. “So now they can just hopefully forget what’s going on and have some fun during the day.”

Camps are typically offered for eight weeks. However, because of COVID-19, the recreation center has shortened the length of the camp to five weeks.

Barhorst said parents can still register their child for the camp by clicking here.

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