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PenMet Parks’ free mobile recreation program coming to local schools

Posted on July 17th, 2024 By: Christina T Henry

Peninsula Metropolitan Park District on Tuesday, July 23, will launch a new Mobile Recreation program that is free to all families, with no preregistration required.

The fun will include field activities, arts and crafts geared toward ages 3 to 12, but all ages are welcome. Food Backpacks 4 Kids with funding from BBQ2U will provide free meals at each event while supplies last.

Program schedule

The program is hosted in partnership with Peninsula School District. Event sites include Artondale, Purdy and Harbor Heights elementary schools. One three-hour event will take place per week at each school through Aug. 22.

Your child need not be registered as a student at any given school to participate. This is not a drop-off program. PenMet Parks asks for a guardian 16 years or older to remain on site with the children.

All events run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The schedule is as follows:

Artondale Elementary: 6219 40th St. NW, Gig Harbor, Tuesdays on July 23 and 30 and Aug. 6, 13 20
Purdy Elementary: 13815 62nd Ave. NW, Gig Harbor, Wednesdays on July 24 and 31 and Aug. 7 and 14
Harbor Heights Elementary: 4002 26th St. NW, Gig Harbor, Thursdays on July 25 and Aug. 1, 8, 15 and 22

The Mobile Recreation program, a partnership of PenMet Parks and the Peninsula School District, launches Tuesday. Photo courtesy PenMet Parks.

Part of a new partnership

PenMet Parks’ Mobile Recreation program is its first joint venture with Peninsula School District since both entities in June approved a formal agreement to coordinate on sharing facilities.

The purpose of the agreement, approved by both PSD and PenMet Parks boards on June 4, is to provide more cost-effective educational and recreational programs by maximizing public use of facilities, according to a news release from PenMet Parks.

“The 2023 State of Play report for Tacoma-Pierce County revealed only 26% of youth in our community meet the CDC’s recommendation of 60 minutes of daily physical activity,” said PenMet Parks Executive Director Ally Bujacich. “This partnership will create more access to recreation and physical activity opportunities for children by mutually prioritizing each agency’s use of facilities.”

Examples of additional programming that the agreement could provided are after-school youth sports, outdoor education, swim lessons and aquatics recreation, camps and programs after school, during breaks and in the summer.

Reducing barriers to play

PSD and PenMet Parks have collaborated informally for years. The five-year agreement cements a shared goal to promote inclusion in health and wellness activities for all ages and abilities, especially for people furthest from recreational opportunities or who are experiencing financial barriers to recreation. The agencies chose the three elementary schools with this goal in mind.

“When looking at Mobile Rec, we knew one of our goals was to mitigate barriers to access for youth, one of which is transportation,” Bujacich said. “We have a concentration of recreation opportunities at playgrounds, parks, trails, courts and fields that are scattered throughout the district, but most of our district residents drive to recreation. We specifically sought out different parts of our district for places that aren’t close to a park.”

Future opportunities

Based on what PenMet Parks learns about the community’s needs during the pilot year of Mobile Rec, it hopes to expand locations, days and times in coming years.

“I am most excited to provide opportunities for those that can’t participate in our other summer programs,” said PenMet Community Recreation Manager Brycen Toney.

The agreement opens the door for future coordination on programs and for development of new facilities and open spaces. For example, PenMet Parks and PSD could jointly pursue grants and other funding sources for facilities such as more turf and lighted sports fields. But any such project would require formal vetting through a capital planning process.

The agreement that went into effect on July 1 won’t result in any immediate changes to reservation processes or fees. PSD and PenMet Parks will each remain responsible for maintenance of their own facilities. Each agency will have priority use of its own facilities during its business hours. The agreement includes the potential for joint use of PSD pools.