Announcing the 2012 Summer Program!

The Blue Hills Youth Program is gearing up for the 2nd annual Youth Program.

This year we will be beginning on Monday, June 4 and continuing through Wednesday, August 1st.

Serving youth ages 8-17, the program, in essence will be the same as last year's with its focus on citizenship, character development and community service.

We will also have weekly recreational activities including the Brazilian martial art Capoeira, Golf, Tennis and Swimming at the Swope Park Pool. In addition, there will be weekly fieldtrips such as the Coterie Theater, the Kansas City Museum, River Market, the Writer's Place, Dream Studio of Kansas City, and much more. We will have guest speakers and other workshops that will stimulate the overall development of the youth.

Some of the new activities that we will undertake are Aikijudo, an intergenerational program called Hometown History and an Equine Leadership Therapy program called Horse Sense that will be facilitated by The Higher Ground Foundation of Kansas City.

Aikijudo is a leadership, anger management and impulse control program. During the class, the youth will learn principles of anti-bullying, peace conflict resolution and impulse control that increases positive behavior and academic success.

The Hometown History program will increase the youth's connection to their community through interviewing and writing stories on community leaders and elders.

With Horse Sense, students will interact with horses to increase patience and learn to control negative impulses.

We are excited about the opportunity to expose the Blue Hills area youth to these awesome activities.

If you are interested in getting your youth involved in the program, please contact B. Michael Long, Youth Coordinator, at 816.509.0873 or at mlong@kc-crime.org. You can also contact Miles Conner, Youth Mentor, at  816.977.1410; and Terrance Ross, Youth Mentor at 816.352.4020.

And by the way, the program is ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!