Summer camps and programs began this week at Kitimat Museum and Archives and at Riverlodge, with special safety measures in place to help keep staff and campers safe during COVID-19.
Madison Hauki, Leader for the Summer of Adventure program at Kitimat Museum and Archives, said that changes have included drastically lowering the number of kids they have each day and making sure safety and sanitation are top priorities.
“We usually have around 18 kids,” Hauki said. “Now, we only have six, and they have to stay the social distance away [from each other]. We have to sanitize their kits, they’re all personalized to each kid for every time they come. It’s definitely very different.”
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Safety measures at Kitimat Museum and Archives include having a maximum of six children per day, trying to keep the children physically distant from one another as much as possible, having staff wear masks for the duration of the programming, and only having one group of children each day to allow the staff time to clean and sanitize the room and equipment between groups.
Despite the restrictions, Hauki said the summer filled up very quickly.
“We filled up within the first hour-and-a-half, and we were booked solid for the whole summer.”
Registration occurs on a day-by-day basis, not week-by-week, but children can be registered for multiple days throughout the summer.
“We do different things each day,” Hauki said. “There are different kids each day, but most are registered for multiple days.”
Hauki said that the first day went well and she’s excited for the rest of the summer.
“It’s been pretty good so far. The kids are taking in a lot of the information, which I was kind of worried about, but they’re actually really interested in the information and we’re trying to make it as interactive as possible for them.”
Riverlodge is also providing a variety of summer programs around Kitimat with COVID-19 restrictions in place. These include limits on the number of children in a group, for both registered and pop-up programs, as well as daily health checks, sanitation, and physical distancing protocols. Check out the District of Kitimat website for more information.
clare.rayment@northernsentinel.com
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