Summertime plans are on the minds of hundreds of parents and children in and around Centre County.
According to Shannon Messick, community education manager at State College Area School District, 350 to 400 families are expected to attend the 2018 Summer Youth Fair, set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday at Mount Nittany Middle School. In its 13th year, the event has evolved over time, becoming the go-to spot for families to browse all the warm weather offerings for kids of all ages and interests in Happy Valley.
“I’m fascinated as a parent and a professional that there are so many programs out there,” Messick said.
She said there is truly something for every young person, from preschooler to teenager. The fair provides information on summer programs for every type of child. Whether kids love sports, science, nature or horses, they are sure to find something that sparks their interest at the Youth Fair, Messick said, pointing out that “every genre imaginable is represented.”
The Community Education Department at State College Area School District has sponsored the event for the past 13 years, and Messick said it has been a “good fit” for the district.
Messick has been in her role since 2014, and she said the number and kind of vendors attending has broadened, as has the sheer number of families attending. She said she remembers when there were about 45 vendors setting up shop at the event, and a couple hundred families would attend. Now, there will be as many as 58 vendors at the fair, and there could be as many as 400 families in attendance.
It’s an incredible sign of growth that Messick attributes to the event becoming much more visible in the community, as well as an increase in publicity and awareness of the programs that are available in and around Centre County.
Another reason the fair is drawing more families, she said, is that there are more and more families with both parents working, and with that there is a bigger need now for families to make sure their children are getting the opportunity to access fun and enriching experiences when they are out of school.
The fair is a great way for families to check out all of the summer and after-school opportunities that Happy Valley has to offer.
“Sometimes families know what they are coming for. For other families, it’s a fact-finding mission to see what’s out there. They’ll gather lots of different information from different vendors, take the brochures with them, take them home and figure out when they are going on vacation, and what programming fits their schedule,” Messick said.
Whether families have a specific program in mind, or are planning to attend this year’s fair just to see what’s available in the area during the summer months, one thing is for sure: Expect to be surprised at the wide array of fun and educational activities offered in the community.
“There is nothing else like this in the area,” said Messick.
“It fills a void. The amount of information out there is overwhelming. As a parent, it is sometimes hard to know where to start. This takes some of the guesswork out of it.”
