Welcome to our exciting summer program at Glide Family Youth and Childcare center filled with endless adventures, laughter, and new discoveries. Get ready to make memories that will last a lifetime as we embark on a summer journey like no other!
Summer Camp: FYCC Cooking class
Many parents are simply moving out of the city. In fact, San Francisco has the lowest percentage of people under 13 of any major city in the nation.
The inequities and acute challenges faced by low-income parents, including during the summer months when children are no longer in school, are why GLIDE’s Janice Mirikitani Family, Youth and Childcare Center (FYCC) exists.
“We go where parents are most likely not going to have the means to go… Not everybody has a car and can drive to Marin.” —Juan
In anticipation of summer break, we spoke with Juan and Selina, two of GLIDE’s wonderful teachers, about FYCC’s thriving Afterschool and Summer Program.
“In the summer, we’re here with the kids much longer,” explains Juan, lead teacher for the second-graders. “We go from spending three hours a day with them to nearly nine hours.”
While the hours may be long, Juan and Selina make it clear that the summer program is fun and rewarding for both the children and themselves.
“We go on field trips every Tuesday and Thursday,” says Juan. “We do hikes, we go swimming, do art… We’re going to dissect an owl’s pellet, which,” he admits, “is a little gross, but the kids are going to think it’s cool!”
“We also have tons of [guest instructors] who come in and do activities with them like music and dancing,” adds Selina, the lead kindergarten teacher, who has been with FYCC for over a decade. “I believe there is a ‘bubble lady’ coming in, too. She puts the kids inside bubbles!”
Summer Camp: FYCC Recreational Soccer
One of the best things about FYCC Summer Camp, according to Juan and Selina, is that many of the children get to experience certain joyful and eye-opening activities for the first time in their lives, like flying a kite, or visiting the Marin Headlands.
“We go where parents are most likely not going to have the means to go,” explains Juan. “Not everybody has a car and can drive to Marin.”
Selina adds that they try to show the kids the diversity of Bay Area neighborhoods and natural parks.
“The kids get to do a private tour of Oracle ball park,” she notes. “And, the older kids get to go camping through CYO [Catholic Youth Organization]. It’s for children from eight to 15-years-old. It’s for a whole week, and it’s entirely free to the families here, including the food.”
Of course, when working with children, there is never a shortage of hilarious stories. Selina recalls one summer a couple years ago when FYCC teachers took the kids day-camping in the Presidio.
“All the camping supplies are supposed to be provided, stored in a locker for you on-site. It turned out that somebody took the logs we’d planned to use to make the fire. When we finally found some, none of us teachers could figure out how to build the fire!” Selina recalls, laughing.
“The kids were just like, what is going on? We had supplies to make hot dogs and s’mores… The kids were really good about it. They had a really positive attitude, but it was so funny. I was like, well, we grew up in the city, I never went camping! Luckily, we found a high-school teacher right across from us at the campsite, so they helped us build the fire,” she says.
“City people tryin’ to camp. That’s what happens,” Juan laughs.
A GLIDE FYCC teacher leads a group of children on a field trip.
Juan and Selina express gratitude for the support and enthusiasm the program receives from organizations and institutions that reduce or waive fees to make field trips possible, and to individual San Franciscans who generously donate to the program.
“After school programs that are income-based are great because a lot of families here don’t have the means to keep their kids elsewhere,” says Juan. “And you definitely don’t want to have your kid at home alone, or alone in the city. The fact that we can provide care, with a kick of education along with it, is great.”
Especially given what’s going on in the political landscape, I think it’s very important that we keep cultivating equality, social justice and acceptance of cultures other than our own. — Selina
Selina, who is a mother herself, adds that San Francisco now has the most expensive childcare in the nation.
“Especially when you remember that, in the Bay Area, a family of four making $110,000 is considered low-income, and then you factor in how much our FYCC parents make, which is way, way less than that,” she notes. “I think that programs like this are an asset and that we need more of them.”
“I want my child to be with other kids and do things that they don’t get to do during the school day,” she continues, “When they come to FYCC, there are electives! There’s PE, cooking, art, music—things that are not necessarily offered at school anymore. It’s also a safe place and, as a parent, knowing where your child is after school gives you peace of mind. Childcare should be a right; it shouldn’t be a privilege.”
FYCC Field Day, Summer
Not only are the families FYCC serves low-income, many of them are also immigrants and face challenging linguistic and cultural barriers. During the academic year, FYCC teachers offer assistance with homework to the kids, as many of their parents do not read or write English. Teachers prioritize instilling an appreciation and love of diversity in their classes, and these values of acceptance and inclusion are reiterated during the summer program.
“We introduce a lot of kids for the first time to another part of the world,” says Juan.
“Especially given what’s going on in the political landscape, I think it’s very important that we keep cultivating equality, social justice and acceptance of cultures other than our own,” says Selina. “FYCC [is] a safe place for everybody.”
The FYCC summer program begins on June 6 and lasts until August 5, 2023. For more information about GLIDE’s Family, Youth and Childcare Center, visit FYCC’s page on GLIDE’s website.
Contact: Maritza Estrada-Esquivel
Email: mestradaesquivel@glide.org
Phone number: 415.674.6212