750 Children at Healthy Hero Camp at MCC Stay Focused on Learning, Exercising and Having Fun
July 14, 2022
Monroe Community College’s Be A Healthy Hero Summer Camp returns in full force this summer for 750 Rochester-area children (ages 6 to 13) — twice as many as last year* — to help reduce health and learning declines that sometimes occur over the summer months. A special focus at this year’s camp is responding to children’s social, emotional and mental health needs within a supportive environment to build skills and positive behaviors.
Over five weeks starting June 27 through July 29, campers can access the Help Zone, a room in which children can seek support, talk through their feelings, explore alternative behaviors, and regroup. The Help Zone is staffed by trained Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) specialists. Mental health concepts are also included in the health curriculum. The camp aims to integrate SEL components into other curricula next year. The SEL initiative is supported through grants from the Konar Foundation, United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes, and Rochester Area Community Foundation through the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation.
Children play music at MCC’s Be A Healthy Hero Summer Camp in 2019.
Regular summer camp activities provide children with opportunities to have fun while expanding their creativity and staying active in a safe and nurturing environment. Campers receive reading and math enrichment, engage in fitness activities, and enhance skills that promote character development, team building, proper nutrition and other positive behaviors, including drug and alcohol avoidance.
Twenty-four junior counselors ages 13 to 18, selected and funded by RochesterWorks!, assist in instruction, mentoring and role modeling. An additional 25 youth volunteers also gain experience assisting with the program.
The camp is made possible with financial support from the Greater Rochester Health Foundation, ESL Charitable Foundation, Glover-Crask Charitable Trust, United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes, Konar Foundation, and Rochester Area Community Foundation, in partnership with the MCC Foundation.