School’s out, which means the Syracuse Police Activities League or PAL is underway.
The national program is in its 75th year, while here in Central New York, the youth development summer camp is entering its fourth year of bringing kids together in a non-law-enforcement setting.
The four week camp series which began July 7, kicked off with an ESports program at Syracuse University.
Director Jimmy Oliver says over 6-thousand local children signed up for courses catering to multiple interests, including swimming, science, and gaming.
The Syracuse ESports gaming camp is a new addition to the program, where students sat in StarTrek style chairs at individual computer stations and followed along as a volunteer introduced them to the equipment
“It's a fun house,” Oliver compared the electric neon blue and orange decorated room, to Dave and Buster's, a popular arcade venue, only in this camp it’s “in an intimate space that you want to be a part of every video game, computer game you've ever done.”
He says the camps are extremely popular. Part of that is because they make the courses fun, while providing kids opportunities to be engaged.
“We want to be intentional about what we do.” Oliver explained “But if kids are not being productive, they're not around positive individuals. They're not around competition. There are some things that are vying for their attention that are not good.”
He admits video gaming is the easy part of camp, it’s getting kids to see the purpose of bringing them together that matters most.
“I want them to meet someone different.” Oliver said. “I hope the kids that are in our program meet a kid that's not from their neighborhood or not from where they go to school and make that connection, because building those connections - as we know as adults - gives you an opportunity in the future.”
The camps are free to kids in Onondaga County, and sign up is on a first come first serve basis. The summer series sold out within hours after its course list went online June 1. The next program starts in October with online sign up beginning September 1.