Island-wide, startled kids are asking: “Is it that time already?”
Yes, it’s time to start thinking about trading in swimsuits for dress code attire, frisbees for textbooks, and roadside salmonberries for cafeteria food.
Orcas organizations will offer a panoply of events to ease the transition for (if-ever-so-briefly) sun-dazzled summerers.
Funhouse offerings
Elementary age kids big and small can bounce off the walls at a “Back to School Carnival” hosted by the Funhouse on Sept. 10.
“We will have the big bouncy house and a toddler size bouncy house, and snow cones and hot dogs,” said assistant director Krista Bouchey.
Games will include ping-pong tosses and “cake walk type games.” Organizers are inviting various clubs and organizations to host booths, keeping their own proceeds from the event. The carnival runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Afterschool Program will start back up in September for kids third in grade and up. From 3 to 5:30 p.m., attendees can keep occupied with classes, sports programs and supervised activities.
Teen Nights will be hosted every Friday and Saturday night, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. for seventh and eighth-graders and 8:30 to 11 p.m. for high schoolers.
Funhouse classes Chemical Adventures of Sherlock Holmes; Mac 101; Mac 201; Photoshop; Running Club; Fall Soccer; Inventors Club; Music Together and more will begin at the end of September.
SWISH basketball
Fifth to eighth grade girls can start brushing up their ball handling in anticipation of the SWISH basketball season, which runs from mid-October through mid-December. AAU girls basketball will offer tournaments in January and March for fifth and sixth graders; the seventh and eighth graders can play on the middle school team during that time.
“These girls play basketball for five plus months and love it!” said Tim Hance, who coached SWISH last year and is this year’s high school girls basketball coach.
Hance said he’ll be working to integrate the youth, middle and high school programs this winter.
“I also intend to have high school players mentor the youth players by assisting with youth coaching from time to time, and allowing youth players to peripherally participate in the OHS basketball program and games,” he said. “It’s important to tie all these groups together for the betterment of the overall program.”
To learn more about SWISH, call Hance at 376-7901.
Sexuality education
This fall, seventh to ninth graders will have an opportunity to discuss intimate issues through a 27-week sexuality education course called Our Whole Lives (OWL). The course will be led by MSW Sandi Burt, along with Suzanne Olson, Shelly Carlson, and many guest presenters. The course is funded by a grant from the Orcas Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Fund, with support from the Orcas Family Heath Center, the Orcas Island Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Office Cupboard and Mia’s Cafe. Registration will begin in September.
Tennis workshop
On Sept. 7, the US Tennis Association will provide a free “train the trainer” workshop in Quick Start Tennis at what will be the newly refurbished Buck Park courts. The workshop has been coordinated by the Orcas Park and Rec District.
School garden expansion
Orcas school students can dig into learning with an expansion of the school garden headed up by garden keeper Chelsea Cates. Her plans include more beds to start growing food for the school cafeteria, a food prep area where students can cook from the garden in the garden, outdoor class study areas, culinary herb and herbal tea gardens, and different learning tools and features that teachers can use to supplement their indoor curriculum in the ecological garden.
“The kids can be a part of the whole process,” said Cates. “We’ll put the fence up, remove the sod, and have compost crops in to go through the winter.” She said a “plethora of ages” of volunteers from the community are lined up to participate.
In addition, Madie Murray of Farm to Cafeteria said the program may enjoy a “sixth season” of processing bountiful produce from local farms that’s ripening late for harvest.
