Fun & Fit camp promotes college readiness for low-income students

Posted by Jayme Blaschke
University News Service
June 24, 2010

The Fun & Fit summer camp at Texas State University-San Marcos is working to promote college readiness among low-income students.

The camp, running now through July 2 in the Jowers Center on the Texas State campus, is a unique, free-of-charge program serving children living in San Marcos Housing Authority residences. Offering traditional physical activities as well as college preparation, the camp is put on through a partnership with Ameri-Corps and the Center for P-16 Initiatives in the Department of Health and Human Performance at Texas State.

Physical activity instruction is taught via service-learning components of university courses designed to teach elementary and physical education teachers how to teach developmentally appropriate physical activity.

Fun & Fit is a program that provides children with positive experiences in physical activity and helps children participate in healthy lifestyle choices. Under the supervision and guidance of Karen Meaney, Texas State students studying to be teachers and coaches provide children with lots of fun while participating in physical activity. The students learn about ways to make healthy food and lifestyle choices. During the two-week summer camp, children enrolled in Fun & Fit are also introduced to the Texas State University community to instill the idea that attending college is a realistic goal.

The college readiness program was developed by the Center for P-16 Initiatives under the guidance of Michelle Pope. In addition, the Center for P-16 Initiatives provided the monetary resources necessary to provide round trip bus transportation from the SMHA residences to Texas State.

For more information, contact Karen Meaney at (512) 245-2952 or via email at km66@txstate.edu.