This year's PEAK Summer Day Camp staff has set the schedule and is excited about another fun-filled summer for young campers. New this year are additional weeks of themed activities and recognition of the quality of the Kent State youth program by the American Camp Association, the accrediting body for outstanding camp experiences.

"The campers gave us feedback on themes and activities last summer," says PEAK Camp Director John Krehnovi. "I think we have an exciting summer ahead of us because of it."

Some of the new themes include Artistic Minds, Magnificent Magic and Young Scientists. True to PEAK tradition, the new camps are in part a result of input from campers. An activity suggested by several former PEAK campers was to create a camp mural. So, this summer, campers will stretch a large roll of paper for 50 feet and all the campers will put their artistic marks on the mural.

In addition to the new themes, the favorite themes of the campers will be back for another year. The campers will still get to scale the climbing wall during Awesome Adventures week and they will still have the Olympic competition during Fit and Fun week. The Splish Splash week of water fun is also back with an additional week added.

"The kids had so much fun during the Splish Splash week that they said we must have it twice for the upcoming summer," says Krehnovi. "So we listened to them and added Wet and Wild, too."

PEAK camps benefit from a wide range of university resources and will again have much to offer to the campers. The children will eat a snack and lunch every day from Summit Café, which is included in the weekly camp fee. Campers will swim daily in the natatorium, which has a leisure pool and lap pool. They will also enjoy walks on the Kent Campus, hikes in the woods, making crafts in the meeting rooms, playing sports on the soccer field and all sorts of activities on the Student Recreation and Wellness Center's indoor courts.

In addition to having fun, safety is a primary concern of the camp experience. All camp counselors go through a thorough orientation process, submit to background checks, carry a two-way radio and a fanny pack of supplies and are trained in American Red Cross First Aid, CPR and AED. The camp also became ACA accredited at the end of 2010. By going through the accreditation process, the camp has proven it is in compliance with the key aspects of camp operation, program quality and protecting the health and safety of campers and staff.

PEAK is for children six to 12 years of age. The camp runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays with optional before and after camp care offered. The deadline to register for camp is the Thursday before each week or when a camp reaches the maximum of 48 campers.

For more information, please visit the Recreation Services website at: http://www.kent.edu/recservices/youth/peak.cfm