By SCOTT D. JOHNSTON

Educational “Free Summer Fun” is being offered to all North Beach School District students ages 8-14 with a new program that will take place at Ocean Shores Elementary School July 9-27.

Flyers and registration forms were distributed at an event Tuesday night at Ocean Shores Elementary and are also available at Pacific Beach Elementary and North Beach Jr./Sr. High. The registration deadline is June 15.

The program is funded by a $25,000 budget allocation from the City of Ocean Shores, is supported by the school district through use of the facility and busing, and has been nurtured from idea to reality by an informal aggregate of individual volunteers, community groups and agencies that share the goal of enriching the summer experience for area children. The effort has been led by a man who is already deeply involved with the two big backers of the effort, Ocean Shores City Council member and North Beach school psychologist Bob Peterson.

Free Summer Fun will take place 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday July 9-12, July 16-19 and July 23-26. The program will finish Friday, July 27, with a celebration event. The school district will run its usual door-to-door bus routes for participants living in Ocean Shores and Pacific Beach. Free lunches will be provided by North Coast non-profit Green Lantern Lunches.

The flyer explains the program’s come-when-you-want approach: “Kids can attend any days and times that are convenient. Sign up for one week, two weeks or three weeks. Come for just morning sessions or afternoon sessions. Or maybe just Wednesdays work for you? We want to make this fun and convenient – so we are very flexible.”

Mornings will mainly be devoted to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) academics. Peterson said the program has hired NBHS science teacher Kevin Traer to be the instructional leader, and fourth grade teacher Beth Rockey also will help.Afternoons will feature activities, special guests, recreation and field trips, including Damon Point tidepools, Duck Lake, North Bay Park and Lake Quinault.

Groups helping to provide program content include the Coastal Interpretive Center with several volunteers, Ocean Shores Fresh Waterways Corp., and Ocean Shores Public Library, Police and Fire Departments. Stage West Community Theatre will do several sessions during which kids will write and rehearse a short play about their Free Summer Fun experiences, to be performed at the program’s concluding celebration July 27. In addition, Peterson noted, nine individuals have volunteered for various afternoon sessions. The program is also sponsored by Grays Harbor Youth Works and Playtime Family Fun Center.

Jessica Holt, a parent volunteer at OS Elementary, has been hired as the program’s administrative assistant. She will run an information line at (360) 660-5272 and will also take questions via email at jjholt17@gmail.com. Anyone interested in volunteering in any capacity should contact Holt.

Peterson explained that he started three years ago trying to build support for a summer youth program here. He and fellow council member Lisa Griebel, who is also the principal at Miller Junior High School in the Aberdeen School District, started talking to the North Beach school folks, and found support from Ocean Shores Mayor Crystal Dingler to include $25,000 for the program in the city budget last fall. The City Council kept it in the budget that was ultimately approved.

“The Council did a great thing by funding this,” Dingler said. “I think it’s a wonderful program and we’re happy to be working with the North Beach School District.”

Stan Pinnick, the district’s interim co-superintendent, said the district “is excited about this great opportunity to benefit our kids this summer.” He said the district is providing two critical components: transportation and the venue itself, OS Elementary. They are seeking some grant funding to go toward the cost of running the school bus routes, but have agreed to cover those expenses either way. “We’re very pleased to be in partnership with Ocean Shores,” Pinnick added.

Peterson said they did not receive the outside grant funding they applied for, but he is hopeful that a strong first year for the program and demonstration of broad community support will enhance the chances of winning future grants.

He said he has previously been involved in summer youth programs that enjoyed amazing success and felt compelled to push for something similar here.

“It’s sort of in my DNA to do something about things,” he said. “I’m not afraid to run things up the flag pole.” Eventually, he had about 20 volunteers working in various ways to create the Free Summer Fun program will now be a reality for North Beach kids this summer.

He said the idea is to “create something for kids to do” so they’re “not in their houses playing on their computers all summer long. Our goal is to provide kids a place to be positive, to have some positive socialization, enrichment and stimulus.”

Peterson said individuals, groups and agencies coming together to make this possible offer an example of something he loves to witness: “It’s amazing to see what a group of people can accomplish when no one cares who gets the credit.”