Field Day Wraps Up 2,000+ Campers’ ​“Summer of Fun”

A Summer of Fun field day commenced at Hillhouse High School with adaptations to keep students safe from Covid.

A separate field day event was hosted Friday at each of the New Haven Public School’s (NHPS) summer sites to celebrate the final day of the Summer of Fun academic camps and programs.

NHPS hosted dozens of summer camps and programs for the month of July this summer. More than 2,000 students attended these camps aimed at reengaging youth after a year of remote learning and a lack in social, emotional, academic, and mental supports.

Originally the idea was to host a citywide field day bringing together NHPS dozens of Summer of Fun summer camp students for games and friendly competition to wrap up the end of summer programming.

However, out of Covid safety precautions, that original idea was modified. The public schools instead hosted individuals field days at each programming site.

Leaders of the Career Pathways and Social Justice Summer Camp that is based out of Hillhouse this year joined four other camps that also operated out of Hillhouse this summer for a joint Hillhouse field day event. In addition to the social justice camp, Hillhouse also houses the Elm City Cheer Camp, Sullivan Academy Basketball Camp, Phenomenal I Am, and Brown Girls; Cooking and Conversation this summer.

The five camps gathered for their field day inside the Floyd Little Athletic Center. Students wore face masks, and each camp was kept in their own separate and distanced areas on the bleachers.

To kick off the field day, the Superintendent had each school site log into a Zoom meeting to represent their school. The five Hillhouse camps hosted about 200 students for the Friday field day.

Social Justice Camp instructor Malcolm Welfare led the students in a countdown for the group to chant ​“Hillhouse Summer of Fun” during the Zoom call. The Elm City Cheer Camp followed up with a cheer for the group.

The field day ran about two hours then students were given lunch and dismissed for most of their last days of summer camp. The Social Justice Camp, which targeted enrolling kids who were absent for 50 percent of this past school year, will continue for an additional week.

“Not only do the kids have Covid fatigue but their parents. Everyone is drained and they deserve a day of fun,” said Elm City Cheer Director and Hillhouse cheer squad coach Michelle Sepulveda.

The field day was organized in stations that groups played at for about 15 minutes each. In addition to stations with standard field day games like flag football, dodge ball, and relay races; each camp created a station that was personal to each camp’s strengths said Hillhouse dean of students and culture Darrell Brown who worked with the Social justice Camp this summer.

“This is some much needed social rehabilitation for these kids,” said Brown.

Brown also organized 100-meter races for students expressing an interest in track. Welfare and Brown encouraged students of the Social Justice Camp to pursue their interest and talents. ​“If you’re good at something you should be getting paid for it,” said Welfare.

“Hillhouse has gotten $36 million in track scholarships because our students took their skills serious,” Brown said.

Students rotated through stations like the cheer station, Tik Tok dance station, basketball fundamentals, potato sack racing, and a group trivia game.

To keep the students of different camps socially distanced, small groups for each station were created based on the students’ camp and grade level.

“Especially in basketball, new players and competition is what Covid took away from the kids,” said Sullivan Academy Basketball Camp co-director Tyrese Sullivan. ​“This [field day] brings back a sense of normalcy and community.”