NEWBURYPORT — Dozens of youngsters from the Newburyport Housing Authority got a chance Monday to dunk a local teacher, get sweaty in a bouncy house and then cool off with snow cones, all for free courtesy of the Newburyport Rotary Club.
The fun was part the city’s Learning Enrichment Center’s kickoff event organized by the Recreation and Youth Services department to celebrate the annual restart of its roughly 20-year-old program that brings tutoring and other developmental services to those in the city’s housing programs.
“For our first time, we were really pleased with the turnout,” Recreation and Youth Services’ Tarah MacGregor said. “We got to connect with new families and kick off the new year.”
While the event is tailored to parents and children living in the 44-unit Kelleher Way complex off High Street, Recreation and Youth Services Director Andi Egmont hopes to expand the program to children and parents living in all Housing Authority units.
The Learning Enrichment Center is located in a rented space at the Housing Authority with roughly 30 families and 20 children taking advantage of free academic, social and mentorship support regularly. Membership is based on income levels, according to Egmont.
Studies have shown that students living in city-run affordable housing facilities are not graduating from high school at the same rate as others in the community, Egmont added.
While local teachers are often seen at the center tutoring students, there is great need for more teachers and volunteers, according to Egmont.
The Rotary Club donated $2,000 for the fun, which included free pizza, popcorn, face painting, a chance to dunk Newburyport Public Schools special education liaison Christopher Cain and enjoy snow cones from Kona Ice of Newburyport. Also at the event were representatives from area support groups, including the Link House and The Pettengill House.
The line to dunk Cain in a vat of semi-clear water was long. Kids were able to toss three balls at the target from a distance of roughly 8 feet. It took a matter of seconds before Cain was dunked for the first time, albeit from a kid who cheated by simply pressing the target.
“Please don’t do that again,” a smiling Cain said, his voice rising above the chuckles of many.
Armed with spiky yellow balls, kids seemingly couldn’t miss with Cain falling into water several more times in a short timespan.
As this was happening, Kona Ice owner Nikki Vazeos handed out a steady supply of snow cones to not only the kids but their parents. Yards away, the shrieks and laughs of kids bouncing off each other and onto the quivering floor of an inflatable house was impossible to miss.
Rotary Club members Lindsay St. Pierre, Alison Rice and Susan Viccaro also had their hands full, giving away free slices from Port Pizza, Famous Pizza and other area pizzerias.