Elementary school teacher, Lee Dittman, works with Brandon Campbell to sound out words during a reading session during the Grace Youth and Family Foundation summer program at Rotary Park in Butler Thursday afternoon.

Longtime kids summer camps offered at three parks in Butler as well as Alameda Park are being augmented with an educational component, thanks to the Butler Area School District.

Bill Halle of the Grace Youth and Family Foundation has been holding summer camps for 21 years at various parks in the city, and has partnered with city council in providing the camps for the past five years.

Currently, youth who are city residents aged 6 to 13 years can attend summer camp at Institute Hill playground, Father Marinaro Park or Rotary Park from noon to 3 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The camps, which attract 200 to 250 kids each summer, started on June 14 and will wrap up on Aug. 13, Halle said.

Adding the 30-minute presentation or activity by Lee Dittman, an elementary school teacher in the Butler Area district, is very beneficial to campers, he said.

“A lot of the kids we serve struggle academically,” Halle said. “Just having the ability to revisit (academics) through active learning and reading is just huge in getting them geared back up for school.”

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