About Town with Erica Robertson, Town Manager
Last month I focused on Granby’s senior community. This month, as the school year is winding down, I’ll highlight youth programs offered by the town. In addition to its fantastic school district, Granby provides programs and services for youth through the Recreation Department, the Granby Public Library and Youth Services.
Parks and Recreation Programs
The P&R guide is full of programs for the entire community. Youth sports, camps and other activities are a large component of our recreation department. The recreation staff can be reached at 860-653-8947 and online at GranbyRec.com Check out the enclosed program guide as well for more information.
Summer Camp Counselor-In-Training Program: An awesome summer experience, the Camp Counselor-In-Training Program is designed to offer qualified young people an opportunity to prepare for positions including camp counselors. Emphasis is placed upon developing leadership skills, sensitivity to children and program skills.
One-week summer sports camps include: volleyball, baseball, soccer, flag football, lacrosse, track, and field, running, field hockey, basketball, lacrosse, cheerleading and tennis.
Youth Enrichment programs include band, chess, culinary, baking, circuit labs and craft camps, babysitter’s training course, home-alone class, fashion, and modeling camp.
Granby Public Library
Children’s Collection: The Granby Public Library has about 30,000 physical children’s and teen materials spread across two branches in a collection that features books, audio books, DVDs, music, games and more. Patrons can access physical materials from across the state, as well as hundreds of thousands of digital resources, including eBooks, eAudio books, and digital magazines.
Children’s Room and Teen Space: The library provides a warm, welcoming space in each branch where kids can be kids while developing a love for reading and learning. Colorful displays, hands-on toys and games, and comfortable seating help families enjoy reading, science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and verbal literacy skills. In the main branch, the teen area highlights the newest additions to the library collection.
Youth Outreach: The Library has a long history of visiting preschools to inspire an early love of reading, visiting elementary and middle schools to engage with students, and supporting homeschool families with materials and programming.
Programs: Granby Public Library offers dozens of children’s and teen events monthly. From weekly story times to special events to monthly Monday Funday events for teens, the library staff provides interesting and engaging activities. Check the library calendar online to see when they are meeting.
Coming soon: The Summer Library Celebration will include a full offering of programs, activities, and challenges for patrons of all ages, featuring the GPL Trail Map Challenge.
1,000 Books Before Kindergarten: It’s never too early to start reading to your child. 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten is getting a reboot this summer. It is an easy and fun way to spend time reading together. Call the library to register and schedule a convenient time to stop by for your program information folder.
Youth Services Bureau
Granby is one of 101 towns in Connecticut with a Youth Services Bureau (YSB). With grant money from the State of Connecticut and matching funds from the local community, Youth Services Bureaus are tasked with providing prevention services to the youth and families of the towns they serve.
Granby’s YSB provides free professional and confidential counseling services to youth. Therapists can meet with a youth up to six times without parental consent by Connecticut statute. After that, counseling can only continue with signed parental consent. Counseling services are a key prevention tool. Counseling of an individual youth, or a youth and their family, helps address risk factors and provide support before negative outcomes occur.
In addition to counseling, the YSB provides positive youth development programming, such as Women on the Way, OWL’s (Our Whole Lives), The Artistic Vibe, the Peer-to-Peer Education program, and the Youth Action Council. These programs introduce positive adult role models in safe and supportive programs.
The YSB also provides prevention education to the community. Through Zoom programs, podcasts, and YouTube videos with links to past presentations and upcoming presentations posted on the Town of Granby Youth Services page. YSB’s summer series on Tuesday evenings, beginning July 12, will focus on tips to help parents talk to their children and teens about the risks of substance use, gambling and watching pornography. Six two-hour presentations will be held on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. through August.