Is it really true, as some local politicians and citizens have claimed, that not enough is being done to keep the District’s youth occupied during the warmer months? East of the River set out to meet and speak with a few local teens to find out what they got up to this summer. It turns out there are scores of non-profits offering dozens of programs geared towards youth both from within and outside of DC. Teenagers are working in summer camps, at non-profits, playing in late-night sports events. All positive activities that many organizations and volunteers are working hard to support. Here are some of them.
Makayla Augustin, 19
Tutoring at the Capital Hill Boys Club Art Gallery (CHBC) and Summer Camp
Makayla Augustin’s mural at the CHBC Art Gallery is tucked away outdoors at the rear of the old laundromat. She’s used bright neon pink and ink black paint to depict two female engineers working on a racing car. The artwork – completed during the CHBC’s Anacostia Murals Festival in May – is a tribute to the things Augustin loves: art, engineering, independent Black women and Formula One racing.
Augustin has been participating in CHBC’s art programs since she was 16. As the sole caregiver to her grandmother who lives in Anacostia, CHBC’s cultural programming has gotten her out the house to meet new people and engage with her community. With her immediate family back home in the Caribbean on St. Lucia Island, CHBC Art Gallery has made Augustin’s life a little less lonely. “I’ve been on my own up here since I was 15,” she says. “I feel close to these people.”
Augustin helps out at the CHBC summer camps during the warmer months and at the CHBC art clubs that run after school programs at local schools like Statesman Academy for Boys in Bellevue. During summer you might see her out and about in Anacostia or Deanwood, accompanying CHBC co-founder Dietrich Williams on summer camp field trips with students from nearby Boone Elementary School as they tour the over six-mile stretch of open-air public murals created as part of the CHBC Anacostia Murals Festival, now in its third year.
During these field trips, kids learn about the Black and African American political, cultural and sporting pioneers depicted in the murals and the local artists that painted them. “We’re ensuring that not only do the kids have these things (public artworks) that represent them, but they see they can also be their own representation,” Augustin says.
Find out more about CHBC’s summer programming for kids by following @chbcartgallery on Instagram.
Ricky Goings, 17
BBAR’s Late Night League basketball summer season
Ricky Goings, a 17-year-old teen from Laurel MD, loves Building Bridges Across the River’s Late Night League basketball so much that he travels almost 30 miles each way to the THEARC campus in Ward 8’s Congress Heights neighborhood to play during his summer school vacation. Goings says he’s been into basketball since he was little, but it was his father who introduced him to BBAR’s Late Night League. “My dad takes me every Friday and Saturday night. He runs the league, so he introduced me to it when he started.”
Late Night League was developed by BBAR in response to overwhelming calls from within the Ward 8 community for activities that would contribute towards violence interruption. Now in its sixth season, Late Night League is free to join and occurs over two eight-week seasons from July through early September from 7:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. every Friday and Saturday night during summer at the Boys and Girls Club gym at the THEARC Campus at 1901 Mississippi Ave SE.
“It’s really fun. I’d love to see more of this. You get to play at night and getting to play during the summer is something to enjoy,” says Goings, who thinks that programs like Late Night League help prevent the teen takeovers that DC’s been grappling with over the last few years. “It would keep kids busy and out of the streets and focusing on something else besides what they see every day and what they see on the news.”
Late Night League isn’t just for the boys. BBAR recently brought a coach onboard for a year to train a girl’s league as part of a partnership with Monumental Sports & Entertainment and Coach Across America. www.buildingbridgesdc.org/basketball
Eli Reynolds, 16
Activity: Supervising M.A.D Scouts youth activities in Anacostia Park
It’s a beautiful, crystal-clear July morning in Anacostia Park and Eli Reynolds – along with two friends – is helping set up equipment for the day’s activities being organized by M.A.D Scouts (M.A.D being an acronym for Making A Difference). The youth empowerment summer camp (organized in partnership with Friends of Anacostia Park) is free to enter, runs Tuesday through Thursday in July and is tailored for boys from Wards 7 and 8 between the ages of 6 to 12.
“When I’m on a break from school and I come home, I work here (in Anacostia Park) with my mom. We organize events and I help with M.A.D Scouts.” The Scouts was started by Prince Hamn along with co-founders Akiima Price and LaShauntya Moore. Boys learn valuable life skills like working as a team while also having fun fishing, playing basketball, roller skating at the Anacostia skating pavilion and navigating obstacle courses all while earning badges to mark their achievements. A free lunch is included for every kid when they register.
“I think people enjoy it. People come out to skate and bring their kids,” Reynolds says. “We’re teaching the kids something new every day. We make sure they exercise.” When he finishes high school, Reynolds says he wants to attend college to learn how to set up his own non-profit. “I want to help out the people that are close to home that live in southeast.”
Follow Prince Hamn on instagram @p_streetz to find out more about M.A.D Scouts or go to www.friendsofanacostiapark.org
Elijah Granby-Collins, 15
Learning to row at the Capital Rowing Club
Through a friend, Elijah Granby-Collins found out about the Capital Rowing Club’s Juniors Summer Learn to Row Camp from late July through mid-August. “The camp starts at 10 a.m. and once you get there, you do a few warmups in the erg room or on the barge,” Granby-Collins says. “Then we did a rally race with the ergs (rowing machines) and the barges. That was fun.” Started almost 40 years ago, the Club draws participants of all ages and skill groups from across the DMV. Kids can learn how to sweep (rowing on one side with one oar) or scull row (rowing with an oar in each hand), and the Club also offers programs for individuals with disabilities.
The Club is located at the historic Anacostia Community Boathouse on the western shore of the Anacostia River. The Juniors Summer Learn to Row Camp is free to join for any kids that attend schools in ward 7 or 8. For everyone else, it’s $100.
For Granby-Collins, being out on the Anacostia River taught him a little about the value of ecology and a lot about the value of teamwork. “It was interesting. I did notice the river’s kind of dirty, but it was fun to work together with everyone on the boat.” He says he’s already impatient to move onto the next level. “I would continue to try out to learn to row on different types of boats and participate in the race events.” www.capitalrowing.org/capital-juniors
