Lynn kids enjoy summer with Project LEARN

LYNN – George White knows how he would be spending his summer days if his parents did not enroll him in Project LEARN.”I’d just be playing video games,” said the former Fallon School student Wednesday as he took a break from dancing with a mob of kids and a trio of musicians on Lynn Common.White is one of 320 children enrolled in the first of two LEARN sessions scheduled for this summer. Parents signed their kids up for the free, city-run program in April and 16 city employees and 32 summer counselors run LEARN.”It’s a very popular program,” said city Public Works Department Assistant Superintendent for Parks Lisa Nerich.White and his friends attend LEARN every weekday morning starting at 8:30 a.m. The three-hour sessions are packed with classes including cosmetology, nutrition, computer graphic design and fire safety as well as fun activities, including White’s favorite.”I like playing kickball.”Sebryna Ryan has attended LEARN summer programs for four years and said the summer mornings away from her home keep her from getting on her sister Sara’s nerves and vice versa.She likes to swim and is looking forward to the Friday field trip to Roller World.LEARN’s first session ends July 18 and the second begins July 21 and runs through Aug. 1. Another 320 kids are signed up for that session.Briana Galeazzi attended LEARN as a kid and now spends her summer between college semesters working as a LEARN counselor.”I’d rather be outside doing this than working a filing job like all my other friends,” she said.Although the focus is on fun for LEARN participants and even counselors, the program also has a serious side. It is a part of a larger city effort to keep Lynn youth occupied with productive after school activities and jobs during the summer months.LEARN kids and their friends across the city can participate throughout the summer in city parks and recreation activities including basketball and tennis clinics.Police Department gang unit officers are working with school truancy officers to keep 17 gang-affiliated teenagers employed this summer. Last year their program hired 30 kids, but contributions to support the program declined this year.”It’s a great program,” said Sgt. Mike Vail, “and this is the third year the (state) Shannon grant has helped pay for it.”Starting in September, teens returning to school or other programs will be able to attend the drop-in center at the Tech field house launched two years ago by Det. Tim Ferrari and other officers.