FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                     April 17, 2006

CITY NEEDS 450 AIDES FOR SUMMER FUN PROGRAM  

            The City Department of Parks and Recreation is seeking people who are enthusiastic, flexible and creative and who genuinely like children to fill 450 vacant positions for Summer Fun student aides. The job pays $7.50 per hour, or $8.50 for those with at least one year of experience. 

            “We hire approximately 550 student aides each year to assist in the Summer Fun program,” said Parks and Recreation Director Lester Chang. “Right now we have about 100 applicants. It’s vital that we fill more of the 450 openings we have right away. The number of aides available will affect how many children each site can accommodate.”

            The City offers Summer Fun at 63 sites around Oahu, from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays. With sufficient staffing, approximately 10,000 children can be enrolled. There’s a registration fee of $25, which can be waived for low-income children, plus activity and excursion fees totaling less than $50. This year’s Summer Fun Program runs from June 13 through July 28.

            A Summer Fun aide’s responsibilities include daily supervision of children, planning and implementing lessons and teaching skills such as sports, arts and crafts, music and dance or Hawaiiana to children who have completed kindergarten through sixth grade. Summer Fun aides also help oversee junior leaders, unpaid volunteers who are at least 13 years old and between seventh and 12^th grade.

            “The Summer Fun Program is a fun, rewarding and invigorating and enriching experience for the children and the aides,” said Chang.

            Summer Fun aides must have completed at least 24 college credit hours and must have a basic first aide certificate by the time they start work. Orientation and training begins May 30. Summer Fun aides start their jobs on June 5.

            Additional information is available online at www.honoluluparks.com  or call the Department of Parks and Recreation at 692-5854.

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Contact:

            Dana Takahara-Dias, Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation, 692-5777