With the end of summer already long past, young children everywhere are dreading the end of long days spent outside. However, for kids enrolled at the ATX Kids Club, the fun doesn’t stop during the school year. Thanks to the many volunteers at ATX, including some of Westwood’s own students, children in Austin get to explore the city on day trips throughout the entire year.
Volunteering for the yearly summer camps at ATX Kids Club, as well as during the school year, students like Bhavana Prayaga ‘28 love staying busy through partaking in the organization’s innovative mission. Prayaga joined this past spring, and has been excited to start volunteering during the school year. Taking part in the local trips over the summer, she is now ready for the organization’s plans for exploring new experiences outside of Austin.
“Normally in the summer we stay locally in Austin, but if you volunteer during the school year and during school holidays, you get to go outside of Austin and a few hours away to national parks and stuff like that,” Prayaga said.
One of the new places Prayaga will be visiting with the ATX Kids Club this year is the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory in Brenham, Texas. Although she enjoys these bigger trips like the ice cream factory and various botanical gardens, she also loves going on the smaller, local adventures with the children.
“In the summer, we go to fire stations and radio stations,” Prayaga said. “We also go to multiple parks around Austin, and we go to splash pads and libraries and museums. It’s really fun.”
According to the Executive Director and Founder of ATX Kids Club Ms. Tammy Miller, volunteers and kids do not have to worry about being bored doing the same adventures over and over. Ms. Miller makes personal efforts to make sure each week is a new adventure for the children, whether it be a wide range of unique activities, or taking diverse angles towards similar excursions.
“The summer camp program is theme based, which means that when a parent signs up, they’re signing up for a particular theme that we’re offering,” Ms. Miller said. “Themes can vary from nature and environment, Texas diversity, arts, and culture. For the older kids, we also do a “Serve In the City” week, [where we] volunteer with other non-profits and do some sort of service-based project.”
According to Prayaga, volunteering is a very rewarding experience, especially when your fellow volunteers are just as passionate about it as you are. This love for service is why Prayaga enjoys working with ATX so much, an organization which she believes embodies this community-oriented goal quite well.
“The best part about working with [ATX Kids Club] is we have the same goal and the same mission to make sure the kids have fun,” Prayaga said. “[Specifically,] we make sure the kids have a fun time and get to see Austin. [They] experience transportation with the metro system too.”
The metro system is an integral part of the ATX Kids Club. The metro takes kids on about 90% of the adventures they go on with ATX, and Ms. Miller makes sure to teach the kids about the importance of public transportation.
“One of the reasons that ATX Kids Club came to be is getting kids to learn and understand the process of riding on public transit because of this sense of independence that it creates,” Ms. Miller said. “Young people see that they have options as they get older. Even though they may not be able to necessarily afford to have a car or even want a car, that does not mean that they are not able to access the city of Austin and get around.”
For some volunteers, the desire to work with kids comes from their own childhood experiences. That is the case for twins Sailee and Saloni Chitari 28’, who were inspired to volunteer with ATX because of teens who volunteered with them when they were young kids.
“We really wanted to [try] volunteering because we had been in summer camps like [ATX] where we saw the older kids volunteering,” Sailee said. “My mom scoured the internet and found ATX, and said we could try it.”
Program Manager Ms. Linnie LaMaster also has experience with summer camps and volunteering, going back to when she was the same age as her teenage volunteers. Before she joined ATX Kids Club this past January, she had already had years of experience with kids.
“I’ve been working in camps or with kids for eight or nine years, and I have been a camp director at a few other locations. I did overnight, day camp, classroom, and taught for a little bit. I really just loved the camp environment more than anything else,” Ms. LaMaster said.
Whether they have worked at summer camps for years, or are fresh to the experience with just two summers under their belt, all the members of ATX greatly enjoy the adventures they get to go on with the kids.
“I would say the best part of working with ATX is talking to the kids. You are counseling and taking care of younger kids, and that’s the most fun,” Saloni said. “Talking to those kids, seeing the way they speak, talk, and act is just really fun and cute to see.”
Even after working with kids since highschool, Ms. LaMaster will never get tired of the new experiences she can give to kids in the ATX program.
“I really enjoy it when it is brand new to them, like when we take the kids rock climbing, and they don’t even know how to approach it,” Ms. LaMaster said. “I think it’s really special to get to be there for them as they’re doing this thing for their first time. ”
It is not all for fun and entertainment though. The kids often note taking away strong lessons not just about public transportation, but also how to take care of themselves.
“A big part of our mission is to encourage healthy life habits as well. We do a lot of walking; a lot of people aren’t used to walking, but it’s so good for you. We also talk about healthy eating and making sure we’re drinking enough water — habits and life skills that maybe you’re not learning at school because you’re not outside at school,” Ms. LaMaster said. “I think this type of environment really allows kids a low stress place to learn about themselves and learn how to be an active member of a group. It allows them to be in a small group of people different from themselves and just learn how to exist in that space. It helps them make friends. It helps them build communication skills. It helps them learn how to navigate.”
The kids are not the only ones learning life skills at the ATX Kids Club. Local teenagers, like Westwood students, have been able to not only be a role-model for the children, but also build core leadership skills in real-world settings.
“You are in this mentorship relationship, and I feel like it goes two ways. It goes between the teenager as a mentor to the kid, and then you have that mentorship with your field trip leader as well,” Ms. LaMaster said. “So you’re learning from your field trip leader and the kids are learning from you. You’re getting to make decisions for a group, [and have that] leadership opportunity.”
Some volunteers have the opportunity to go even further with their leadership in ATX Kids Club by being a part of the teen leadership board, like Prayaga. Prayaga is in a group of teenage volunteers that are currently on the board, that are responsible for adding key student perspectives to the program’s proposed activites.
“We have done the teen leadership program for three years, and the last two years have been the biggest. We have been going to all these different events in the community, and have been starting to do some fundraisers,” Ms. LaMaster said.
Fundraising is a necessary part of running a revenue-based non-profit. Thanks to fundraising, last summer, ATX Kids Club was able to give out $15,000 for kids to come to the summer camp. This coming November 2nd will be the next annual fundraiser for the ATX Kids Club.
“We are doing an urban quest, and it is going to be an opportunity for us to give 16 scholarships to offer kids to come to camp for next year,” Ms. Miller said.
Whether it is volunteering time and efforts to go on adventures with kids, or giving money to support an organization, there are tons of ways for people to get involved not only with ATX Kids Club, but any non-profit organization they feel passionate about. In order to learn more about ATX Kids Club and how to get involved, visit https://www.atxkidsclub.org/.
