Long waitlists spawn second summer camp

Elizabeth Brewer, The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich.
·2 min read

Apr. 26—TRAVERSE CITY — Long waitlists for summer-camp spots prompted an upcoming partnership between Grand Traverse Bay YMCA and Traverse City Area Public Schools.

This June, staff members from the Y will operate a second day-camp for 40 kindergarten through second-grade students made up of 20 children on the Y's summer camp waitlist and 20 children from the TCAPS Summer Explorer's Club waitlist.

The camp will take place at the brand-new TCAPS Montessori School, which opened last fall, according to Y officials.

"The YMCA recognizes the need for more summer camp opportunities in the Grand Traverse area," President/CEO Andy Page said in a media release. "This doesn't mitigate the camp shortage — but it's a great first step."

TCAPS first reached out to the Y in February following their own registration backlog to see if they could staff a second summer campsite at their new Montessori property, according to senior director of membership Jay Bushen.

"After conversation and stuff [the Y] felt they had staff and our team worked with their team and we were able to make it work to where the services bolted our waitlists equally," TCAPS Superintendent Dr. John VanWagoner said.

Ahead of registration for the first Y camp, parents began lining up outside the West YMCA location on Silverlake Road starting at 10:30 p.m. the night before.

When staff members arrived at 2:30 a.m. approximately 60 people were already in line, according to previous reporting.

When Y camp registration opened at 7 a.m. that morning, the Y's senior director of programming, Thomas Graber, said all of the 200 spots were claimed within 20 minutes, leaving more than 100 kids on the camp's waitlist.

TCAPS faced similar hurdles during their summer camp registration process this winter.

Families attempting to register on Feb. 8 encountered a system error, which resulted in the district hosting another registration event on Feb. 10.

Parents were waitlisted minutes after the spots opened, according to social media posts at the time.

VanWagoner estimates that, after their registration filled-up in a couple of minutes, at least 100 families were on the Summer Explorer waitlist.

"We're just trying to figure out and strategize every which way to offer more opportunities for kids in the summer," he said. "We know this doesn't solve all of it still ... but we're trying to do every single opportunity we can."