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Summer ESCAPE

As the summer months continue, the area’s youth have the opportunity to stay active at Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Camp ESCAPE.

The camp, formerly known as Summer Youth Adventure Camp, has been offered to children for the past three years. Jeremy Bottorf, program director, said most of the campers are children of college employees but they do have some from the public.

Children ages 8 through 14 can attend the camp. There are 30 campers this year and six staff members.

Campers participate in a number of activities, ranging from dodge ball to capture the flag.

“We a do a variety of activities. We do both physical and non-physical activities,” Bottorf said.

Besides the games, campers are able to read to younger children on the college campus and do special projects.

“We’re going to make solar pizza ovens out of pizza boxes and do a cooking project,” Bottorf said.

Besides the activities on Penn College’s campus, participants also attend local mini-trips. Bottorf said they will go to Faxon Lanes and the East End swimming pool. But they will travel a little farther for other trips.

The camp will go to Penn’s Cave, Liberty Splashland in Northumberland, Knoebels in Elysburg and catch a baseball game with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.

Bottorf said parents like having their children attend the camp because it keeps them active. He said it’s important that children go outside and run around instead of sitting around inside their homes.

Game systems of any kind are not permitted at the camp.

“We want to keep them active and enjoying the activities and motivated,” Bottorf said.

But campers aren’t required to only do the activities counselors create, they have input into the camp, as well. Bottorf said campers often make suggestions about how something could be better or a new activity that the staff takes into consideration.

And despite the age gap between some of the campers, Bottorf said they get along “very well.”

Those returning often do so because of the range of activities, Bottorf said.

“I think they like the variety (of activities),” he said. ” It’s a really good program. We offer something for everyone.”

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