TORONTO, June 21, 2001 -- York University’s summer day camp for kids, York Youth Connection (YYC), expects to raise $8,000 this year from university faculty and staff and surrounding businesses to sponsor local kids at camp.

YYC works with the Jane-Finch Community Centre to raise funds and target subsidies to families in need. The camp also receives funding from the City of Toronto and the Toronto Star’s Fresh Air Fund. The camp serves both the internal university community and the surrounding area. About 60 per cent of the campers are from outside the university, and more than 25 per cent are subsidized.

"York’s summer day camp has been serving the community for 25 years and is an important link in supporting the goals and aspirations of young people in the area," said Deborah Hobson, York Vice-President Enrolment and Student Services. YYC offers a two-week program of day trips and overnight outings, as well as music, film, theatre, science, sports activities and games at York’s Keele St. campus. A leadership program for older campers develops team-building skills, decision-making and leadership abilities, and awards a certificate upon completion. There are four, two-week sessions throughout the summer, starting July 3, and fees are $175 per camper. Camp employees are recruited from the YMCA Employment and Community Service, and from local high schools including Westview Centennial Secondary School.

York University’s relationship with Westview and other schools in the area stems from a partnership between the York Faculty of Education and the North York Board of Education that began in 1992 to enhance opportunities for the academic success of students in the surrounding multicultural and multilingual communities. York’s Faculty of Education has established a distinctive Urban Teaching Program that instills in teachers a knowledge of the teaching ethos required in these communities.

Since 1993, Westview students from Grades 11 and 12 have spent six weeks of summer working as interns in laboratories and field-based research in the Summer Science Program at York’s Faculty of Pure and Applied Science. Other programs that give local youth a taste of university life include: the Future Teachers Club, the Festival of the Arts and its Choral Project, the Westview Alumni at York (WAY) mentoring program, and the Steps to Arts Program in the Faculty of Arts.

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For more information, please contact:

Michelle Miller
Office of the VP Enrolment and Student Services
York University
416-736-2100, ext. 70705
millerm@yorku.ca

Susan Bigelow
Media Relations
York University
416-736-2100, ext. 22091
sbigelow@yorku.ca
YU/079/01