Remember Back at Summer Camp?
Filling up the Toolbox for Oakland Middle Schoolers
This summer, Eat. Learn. Play. was proud to support Oakland Athletic League’s (OAL) Summer Bridge Leadership & Enrichment Program, which provides safe, engaging, and high-quality experiences during the summer months when many students face limited access to structured activities. OAL is a long-standing partner in our work to ensure Oakland students have access to meaningful opportunities to play sports and be active. Lamont Robinson, OAL Commissioner, shares his reflections on the summer program.
By Lamont Robinson, Oakland Athletic League
Anyone who has been around middle schoolers knows it can be like pulling teeth to get them to try new things. When you’re at home all day, summer can flow right by before you know it. Whether it’s fear of being perceived as “uncool” or the uncertainty of getting out of their comfort zone, our Summer Bridge program breaks down those walls for kids. With support from Eat. Learn. Play., we gathered over 115 youth from across Oakland for six weeks in a space that was safe, engaging, and enriching. Run in collaboration with Safe Passages, United for Success, and We Lead Ours, the program does more than fill six weeks: the goal is to create a cycle, where the middle schoolers we welcome today come back as the high school mentors of tomorrow.
For a lot of these kids, the world can feel like it stops at the edge of their block. Part of what we do is show them how much is waiting just beyond it. Our program is built around academics, physical wellness, social-emotional growth, and career exploration. In the morning, our youth do summer school and get all their core academic work in. That keeps those educational juices flowing so nobody loses ground over the break. Then we introduce them to different sports and activities to build that excitement and interest, while opening their eyes to different educational paths, colleges, and careers. We're after real life skills, but we keep that education component right at the forefront.
We are exposing them to the beautiful places that surround our own city. For some kids in Oakland, what’s right outside of their neighborhood may as well be 100 miles away. Whether it’s visiting the UC Berkeley campus, hiking, or trying ceramics and cooking, we want to create experiences our campers may have never had before, and show them that they belong wherever they go.
Our paid youth leadership model gave 20 high schoolers real employment opportunities. Those youth leaders earn stipends, modeling job readiness for the younger ones, while building the skills that will help them after camp ends: leadership, communication, teamwork, mentorship, professionalism, and responsibility. Our hope is that a kid who comes to us as a middle school participant will return as a high school mentor, because when kids leave this camp, they leave with a whole community. Years down the line, I want a young person who’s having a tough time to be able to say, "Remember when we were at summer camp back in middle school? One of my counselors told me how to handle this situation. I learned that from them."
If we can get that cycle going, they're gaining the experience and pouring right back into our community. Their toolbox is filled with skills they can pull from in different situations, based on the experience they got in this camp. Maybe it's a kid who wasn't one to talk to anybody, and now they've got new friends and know how to work in a group. Maybe it's someone finding the passion for a new hobby or sport that keeps them busy and helps relieve stress. Maybe it's a young person who now has the confidence to navigate challenging situations.
Summer Bridge was never just about giving kids “something to do” over the summer. Our hope is that our program leaves them with the need and the desire to come back and pass it on. To hand those same tools to the next group of young folks, relate to them, be mentors to them, and keep the cycle going.