“I’d say that between 75 and 80 percent of the swimmers who come up here are high school aged and younger,” said lifeguard Katy Gibson, who works at the Walker Pool, at 2615 N. Third St.
“I come up here almost every day” said Jordan Miller, 15, a student at Travis Middle School. “It beats playing video games and staying inside.”
Walker Pool opens in late May to correlate with the end of the school year, and holds several open sessions per week. Young people can also take swimming lessons, which are available at various times during the day.
Walker Pool is one of several run by Temple Parks and Leisure Services, which includes Clark Pool, 1808 Curtis B. Elliott Drive, and Lions Pool, 4001 Lions Park Drive. Admission to the open swim session at Walker is $2.
“If the children are 12 years old or younger they have to have a parent or guardian with them,” said Ms. Gibson. “But a lot of our swimmers are young teens, so they’re up here hanging out with their friends. A lot of parents drop their kids off here all day.”
Jordan said he usually stays for several hours a day after getting dropped off by his parents in the morning.
Darian Madrigal, 14, a student at Temple High School said he has been going to Walker Pool to get out of the house since he was a little kid.
“I love coming up here,” Darian said. “I like jumping off the diving board and doing all sorts of tricks.”
Darian said he often rides his bike to the pool when he can’t find a ride. “I just don’t like being inside when it’s nice out.”
Besides public pools, Temple Parks and Leisure Services offers several youth programs at various parks and recreation centers around the city.
At the Wilson Park Recreational Center, 2205 Curtis B. Elliott Drive, more than 200 students from across Bell County are participating in Camp Heatwave.
Camp Heatwave allows youths ages 5 and up the opportunity to participate in outdoor and indoor activities, which have included dodgeball, hiking, rock-climbing, and dancing. The students are placed into groups depending on their age.
“A lot of the advertisements you see now are telling kids to get up, and get outside for one hour per day,” said Camp Heatwave founder Robert “Peanut” Henderson. “But we’re allowing kids to be active all day.”
“It’s a lot cooler than staying at home,” said Elaine Farbo, 8, a student at Thornton Elementary.
The camp runs all day, as many parents drop their students off at 7 a.m., and pick them up when the camp closes at 6 p.m.
“My dad made me come here,” said Autumn Yarosz, 13, of Troy. “At first I was mad at him, but now I kind of love him for it. I can’t imagine sitting at home right now and doing nothing.”
Although Camp Heatwave is now at its capacity, kids can still enjoy several other summer programs that Wilson will be offering, including Tae Kwon Do classes, ‘Weird Wednesday’ science classes, ‘Top Secret Agent Explorer’ classes, among others.
“We’re very busy right now,” said Wilson manager Brock Boone. “We’re going to offer a number of events aimed at youths throughout the summer.
“Obviously, when it’s 100 degrees outside, parents want their children to be active, while participating in activities that are closely monitored,” Boone said. “We offer them options.”
Temple Parks and Leisure Services also runs The Skate Park at Seventh Street and Avenue B across from the Santa Fe Depot. The park is free to the public, and opened daily until dusk. The park features ramps designed out of steel for skateboarders, rollerbladers and bicyclists.
“It’s really cool that we have something like this to do during the day,” said Jason Rosenfield, 15, about the Skate Park. “It gives us some place to practice and hang out with our friends.”
“The summer can get pretty boring if you don’t have things to do,” Jason said. “But having something like this definitely helps out.”
The Temple Independent School District is also offering several programs to keep students occupied over the summer, including Latin methodology classes, a German class for kids and a robotics class. In June, 14 TISD middle school students attended a daily Bridge Camp for the first two weeks of their summer vacations.
“It was a great experience. The teachers were great. Bridge is an awesome game and it was a great learning experience,” said student Michael Guillen.
