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The summer program site visits continue! Greg Green recently visited the CYP Sports Camp, Outback Summer Camp, and Camp Rainbow to check out their programs and see all the fun Cambridge kids are having this summer!
Cambridge Youth Programs Sports Camp This summer, CYP Sports Camp has gone global with a World Cup theme! Throughout the summer, campers have been divided into teams representing countries from around the world, competing in a variety of sports while learning lessons that extend far beyond the playing field. While the games are certainly exciting, the real victories come from the emphasis on teamwork, sportsmanship, perseverance, and overcoming adversity. Whether celebrating a win, learning from a loss, or encouraging teammates, campers are building the skills that make great athletes and even better community members. The colorful World Cup displays and team spirit throughout the program make it clear that everyone is playing for something bigger than the final score. Outback Summer Camp My visit to Baldwin's Outback Summer Camp reminded me that sometimes the best learning happens when we become the student. I stopped by during one of their art blocks and was amazed by the variety of creative opportunities available to young people. From pottery and drawing to origami, every table invited campers to explore a different artistic skill. Naturally, I couldn't resist joining the origami class. What started as a simple goal of making a paper box quickly turned into one of the most humbling and rewarding experiences of my summer. (Who knew a paper box could have what felt like 500 steps?) Fortunately, I had some incredible teachers. The young people patiently guided me through each fold, corrected my mistakes with kindness, and celebrated every small success along the way. By the end, I proudly completed my box while admiring the intricate creations they had mastered. It was a wonderful reminder that OST spaces are filled with opportunities for everyone to learn. Sometimes the adults teach, and sometimes the young people do. Those moments of shared learning and mutual respect are what make these programs so special. DHSP Camp Rainbow Sometimes the best part of a site visit is getting to jump right in! During my visit to DHSP Camp Rainbow, I had the opportunity to dust off my youth worker hat and lead a few classic group games with the campers. What started as a visit quickly turned into an afternoon full of movement, laughter, and friendly competition. Together we played Rock, Paper, Scissors, Collect the Balls, and Line Tag, and let's just say... I definitely worked up a sweat trying to keep up! The campers brought incredible energy to every game, cheering each other on, staying active, and fully embracing the fun. It was a great reminder that some of the most meaningful moments in OST don't require elaborate materials or complicated activities. Sometimes all it takes is an engaging game, a caring adult willing to jump in, and a group of young people ready to laugh, move, and play together. Thank you to the Camp Rainbow staff for welcoming me into the fun and for creating a space where joy, movement, and connection are at the heart of every day.
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One of the best parts of summer is getting the opportunity to visit our OST programs and see the incredible learning, creativity, and joy taking place throughout Cambridge. Every site has its own unique energy, and every visit is a reminder of the passion and dedication our OST professionals bring to young people each and every day.
Here are a few highlights from recent site visits! Gately Youth Center Walking into Gately Youth Center feels like stepping into a hub of creativity and possibility. Throughout the day, young people rotate through four to five enriching workshops that keep them engaged, challenged, and inspired. From sewing and volleyball to beatmaking and theater improv, youth are exploring new interests while building skills and confidence. One standout experience was the Audio Theater Workshop, where young people transform written scripts into fully voiced productions. Think of it as a cross between a stage play and a podcast! Participants select a script, choose a character, practice delivering their lines with emotion, and then head into Gately's music studio to professionally record their performances. Whether it's comedy, mystery, drama, or tragedy, these young storytellers are bringing stories to life one voice at a time. I also had the opportunity to spend time with Gately's Teen Internship Program. Their young leaders are developing skills in networking, professionalism, teamwork, and event planning. They're already putting those skills into action by organizing a community Block Party at Rindge Field on August 10 for all ages. Stay tuned for more details. It's exciting to see youth leading the way and creating opportunities for their community. Peabody Community Schools This summer, Peabody Community Schools has fully embraced an ocean themed adventure, inviting young people to "Dive Into the Action!" Each week introduces a new theme that combines hands-on learning with creativity and exploration:
The excitement continued with High Seas Explorers, featuring a life sized Battleship game complete with enthusiastic cries of "There she blows!" And what better way to bring ocean learning to life than a field trip to the New England Aquarium, giving young people the chance to experience marine life up close after spending weeks exploring it in their classrooms. As if that wasn't enough, Peabody's version of The Office Challenge keeps youth on their toes with surprise team challenges. During one visit, participants used water bottles and a handful of simple materials to build mini volcanoes and watch the "magma" flow. Creativity, teamwork, and problem solving were on full display. Community Art Center Creativity was in full color during my visit to the Community Art Center. Young people jumped head first into designing their own tie dye shirts, adding their own personalities and artistic flair to every creation. What made the activity even more meaningful was knowing these weren't just art projects. The shirts were created for youth to proudly wear on their field trip the very next day. It was a wonderful example of how OST programs foster autonomy, creativity, and ownership while making everyday experiences even more memorable. And yes, I couldn't resist joining in! I even had the chance to make a few shirts for my own kids. Every visit reinforces what we already know. Cambridge's Out of School Time community is filled with dedicated professionals who create spaces where young people feel inspired to explore, create, lead, and grow. Thank you for the incredible work you do every day. We look forward to visiting more programs throughout the summer and continuing to celebrate the amazing experiences you provide for Cambridge's children, youth, and families. May marked the final ESON/MSN Network Meeting of the school year. Next month, we look forward to joining with RAY (Reaching all Youth) at Frisoli for our End of the-Year Celebration on June 9th.
The Joint Network portion of the meeting included an opportunity for folks to engage and learn about the Community Partners Portal as well as the OST Demographics Dashboard. Rob Emery, our colleague from the CPS ICTS Department, joined us to present and answer many great questions (and we have even more that were shared on post-its that will inform future resources and presentations. Here's a link to the slides that were shown. If you need a Community Partners Portal account, please request one via the CPP website, or email Rob ([email protected]) and/or Khari ([email protected]). Once you're set up, and upload student enrollment data into the CPP Data, you'll be able to access data visualizations and filters via a OST Demographic Dashboard. Check out the CPP Help Guide for instructions on enrolling students across your programs and sessions. If you have enrollment data that you need assistance with uploading to the CPP, please don't hesitate to contact Zeena Brown ([email protected]). In the MSN space, we revisited the youth voice questions created during our April meeting and reflected on student responses shared through video. Click here to hear youth voices. The conversation sparked thoughtful discussion around youth needs, barriers, and takeaways that can help inform intentional summer program planning and creation. The ESON group focused on our challenges and the "pace scale" that defines our daily work. We talked about how our jobs constantly move from one end of the scale to the other while we try to balance ourselves, our team members, and the young people we support. The conversation centered around keeping an open mind about each area on the scale and doing our best to be the staff that everyone in our community needs at different moments. The Pace Scale: Slow and Sustainable Balanced and Intentional Fast and Reactive Thank you for your participation in Network meetings throughout this school year! We look forward to seeing you at our End of the-Year Celebration in June! Our April OST Network meeting brought together creativity, connection, and purposeful planning as we began transitioning into summer programming. We kicked things off with a layered drink station to ground ourselves in the theme of “layers.” Members crafted colorful drinks (think mango, lemon, ginger juice topped with gummy worms and fresh mint) while reflecting on the layers of summer already rising to the surface in our minds. It was a light, joyful way to spark conversation and acknowledge the complexity of this seasonal shift for our programs, our teams, and ourselves. A huge thank you to the Cambridge Community Center (CCC) for hosting us and sharing more about their work. CCC highlighted their community center offerings as well as their food pantry, and we want to help spread the word: The CCC Food Pantry is open to all: no questions asked, no documentation required. Hours: Tuesday–Friday, starting at 1:00 PM (open until food runs out) This is an incredible resource for families in our community, and we encourage everyone to share this information widely. We then shifted into focused network work. The Elementary School OST Network (ESON) led a conversation on caregiver engagement exploring strategies for building stronger connections with families and benefitting from seeking and leveraging their input. Together, we began developing thoughtful questions aimed at better understanding caregiver expectations, needs, and hopes as we design responsive summer programming. Here's a summary of the ideas we came up with in support of engaging parents as well as survey based on the questions we came up to ask parents and caregivers in support of our summer planning.
Meanwhile, the Middle School Network centered youth voice. Participants worked collaboratively to develop meaningful questions that we can ask middle schoolers to inform our program design and strategy. The group committed to taking one or a few of these questions into the field and capturing responses through video, audio recordings, or written reflections to bring back to our May meeting, helping ground our summer planning in the lived experiences and perspectives of young people. As always, this meeting reflected the strength of our network: thoughtful, creative, and deeply committed to the communities we serve. We look forward to continuing this momentum together. On Saturday, March 7, more than 400 Cambridge families came out to the 5th annual Rollin’ & Summer Resources event at the CSUS/King Open Community Complex. The event gave families a chance to connect with 40 different summer program providers, learn about their offerings, ask questions, and even register for programs on the spot.
When families weren’t chatting with program providers, there was plenty to do. Kids laced up their skates in the gym, tried their hand at parkour, and played life-sized board games. This year’s event also featured a special performance from well-known magician Bonaparte, who performed a spectacular magic show in the auditorium. Throughout the event, Multilingual Family Liaisons and Community Engagement Team Outreach Workers were on hand to help with translation and interpretation, making sure families could access information and connect with providers. Feedback from families was overwhelmingly positive with 100% of post-event survey respondents saying the event was helpful and that they found the summer information they needed for their child, while getting their questions answered. Families also shared that they were able to apply for summer programming at the event or get onto a waitlist. Who attended the 2026 Rollin’ & Summer Resources event?
Even though ESON Coordinator Greg Green was busy adding to his legendary status as a Girl Dad -- congrats to Greg and his family on the arrival of their new baby girl!! -- the ESON vibe continued with a meeting hosted at the Gately Youth Center (thanks to Bo and Joren for hosting!). The meeting focused on the strategic planning and approaches to preparing for summer programming in 2026. The central theme emphasized moving beyond basic "childcare" to create high-quality, creative environments that prioritize youth voice and engagement. Key Themes & Discussion Points
Core Goals for Summer 2026For your reference, here’s a link to slides, which includes a links to input and ideas from meeting attendees, and lifts up three primary objectives for the upcoming season:
Thank you so much for joining us for the February ESON Network Meeting: Whole Hearts, Whole Minds: Building SEL & Wellbeing in OST Spaces. It was truly meaningful to spend time with such a dedicated group of elementary OST professionals who show up every day with care, patience, and commitment to young people.
Together, we explored how Social Emotional Learning and trauma-informed practices can support both youth and adults, and created space to reflect on the emotional labor of this work. Through Story Circles, participants shared powerful moments of connection and support, practiced active listening, and lifted up the strengths and compassion that exist across our OST community. We also spent time reflecting on what fills and drains our cups, recognizing the experiences that energize us and the challenges that impact our capacity. These conversations highlighted the importance of noticing our own wellbeing, supporting one another, and identifying small, meaningful shifts that can help sustain us in our roles. Finally, through the Pause. Feel. Respond. scenarios, we practiced responding to real-life OST situations with empathy, emotional safety, and thoughtful boundaries focusing on compassionate, realistic strategies that center regulation, relationships, and belonging. Thank you again for your openness, participation, and the care you bring to this work. Your voices, insights, and shared experiences make these network spaces so powerful. We look forward to continuing to learn and grow together. Attached you will find our SEL slide, SEL facilitator's guide, and SEL activities. Please feel free you utilize these with your team! On December 17, 2025, more than 130 K-12 Cambridge OST providers, CPS Family Liaisons and faculty, DHSP staff, community outreach workers, nonprofit organizations and many other partnering providers, gathered at The Foundry for the 3rd Annual School-Community Partnership Gathering. Hosted by the Agenda for Children Out-of-School Time’s Elementary and Middle School-OST Networks, DHSP's Reaching All Youth Network and the CPS Family Engagement Team, this annual event brings together Cambridge providers to strengthen our networks in support of Cambridge children, youth and families. Following introductions, including those by CPS Supt. David Murphy, and Michelle Farnum, Assistant Director for Children, Youth and Families at DHSP, the gathering kicked off with a panel discussion centered around how programs support students’ mental health and social-emotional well-being and the value and impact of successful program partnerships. Special thank you to our panel participants: Marsé Romero (East End House), Christina Ullman (Science Club for Girls), Katie Quizphe (Peabody Community School), Jordan Harvey (Tutoring Plus) for sharing your insights and experiences. Also, thanks to CEA President Chris Montero for attending on behalf of all CPS educators; and our collective efforts to partner on behalf of supporting the growth and success of thousands of CPS students. After the panel, participants had the opportunity to engage with each other through interactive breakout sessions, sharing stories of challenges, learning opportunities, program accessibility, partnering strategies, mental health resources and more. View the notes from each breakout group. We encourage participants to continue their conversations from the gathering and have created a meeting directory to facilitate reaching out to each other. Also, be sure to check out the community announcements from the meeting for program updates and upcoming events for the new year! Finally, check out the wordcloud created from attendees responses to the following prompt on the event feedback form (click on image for a closer look)!  Thank you to all our network members for joining us and contributing so thoughtfully to our November 5th ESON Network Meeting. Together, we opened with a warm welcome and reflected on what “Cambridge families” means to us, grounding our work in the voices and lived experiences of the youth and families we serve. Through our gallery walk, we explored current practices and future ideas for family engagement, highlighting the many ways programs cultivate welcoming and trusting environments.
In small groups, we also examined real Cambridge family scenarios, challenging assumptions, recognizing potential access barriers, and identifying opportunities to strengthen connection and inclusion. We appreciate everyone’s openness, insight, and commitment to building a more unified and supportive experience for all Cambridge families. It Begins With Us We officially opened the year with our first Elementary Schools OST Network (ESON) meeting, centered on the theme “It Begins with Us.” This gathering brought together elementary OST providers from across Cambridge to strengthen our community and reaffirm our shared purpose of supporting young people through every stage of their growth and journey.
Together, we focused on cultivating a welcoming and collaborative space where providers can connect, share insights, and align on how best to meet the needs of elementary aged youth. By grounding our work in community and collective responsibility, we began shaping a network rooted in partnership, care, and a shared commitment to helping children thrive both in and out of school. We are excited to keep the momentum going and continue this important work at our next ESON Network meeting on November 5th. Here's what's coming up: During the November ESON Network Meeting, we will focus on exploring what it truly means to serve Cambridge families. Bring your thoughts and reflections, big or small, about what a Cambridge family means to you. Together, we will share perspectives and deepen our understanding of the communities we serve, building a network that is rooted in connection, guided by purpose, and committed to making a meaningful difference. |
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August 2026
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