United Way of Northern Arizona — KinderCamp™ Events Celebrate Special Summer

The classes were a little smaller, the program was a little shorter, and smoke from wildfires sometimes made getting outside for recess difficult. Despite those challenges, the return of KinderCamp™ last month was a great success.

More than 130 students from Flagstaff, Williams and Pinetop-Lakeside took part in this year’s collaborative project, which prepares pre-school age children academically, socially and emotionally for kindergarten.

“It was great,” said Sara Owen, the coordinator for the project. “The families were excited to be back in person, the kids were happy to be in school, and the teachers were appreciative for a chance to help them grow.”

Flagstaff Mayor Paul Deasy visits a KinderCamp classroom.

The program, provided at no cost to families, has been made possible by the generous support of many collaborating partners over the years. The largest of these grants, from Arizona Community Foundation of Flagstaff, has enabled UWNA to leverage funds and obtain additional support from other entities and individuals, including: APS, Coconino County, the Geile Charitable Foundation, the Molly and Joseph Herman Foundation, the Phillip K. Lyons Foundation, Supervisor Matt Ryan, Wells Fargo and Williams Rotary.

The balance of the funding comes from donations to the UWNA’s Annual Campaign from individuals who are passionate about early childhood education.

Learning letters – “A” is for “Ant.”

KinderCamp focuses on children who have not had any previous preschool experience and is held for several weeks in June. In addition to learning their letters and how to behave in the classroom, the children also hear from special guests, like the “tooth fairy” or Smokey the Bear.

In Flagstaff, one of the special projects the kids worked on during the session was thank you cards and signs for firefighters who were battling the Rafael Fire.

During the program, KinderCamp teachers met individually with parents or caregivers at the schools to let them know how their little ones were doing and provide “literacy kits” to continue their education at home. The kits include books, chalk, Legos and more so students could practice what they learned in class.

As in previous years, KinderCamp was capped off with a special “bridging over” ceremony to mark the graduation of the four- and five-year-old students from the program and their readiness for school this fall. Most of the ceremonies had themes, like the ocean one for students in Lakeside-Pinetop who “surfed” into kindergarten.

This year’s celebrations had some changes to keep students and families safe, Owen said. Instead of large extended families attending the event, most students could only have one or two guests.

“We had to pivot a little, but we still made it meaningful,” Owen said. “It is still a very important milestone.”

The “Bridging Over” ceremony in Flagstaff.

KinderCamp is one of United Way of Northern Arizona’s signature initiatives to Step Up for Our Youth. It was launched about 17 years ago after a community assessment identified early childhood learning as a major concern in the region.

The initial partnership between UWNA and the Flagstaff Unified School District has grown over the years to include school districts throughout northern Arizona.

If you would like to support early education programs in northern Arizona, please clink on the button below. You can direct your investment specifically to the KinderCamp program on our donation page. Thank you for being Ready to LIVE UNITED.