LEXINGTON, S.C. — As the school year comes to a close, naturally summer programs are beginning. This means keeping your kiddos occupied when they're out of school can be a challenge. But thanks to programs across Lexington County, it'll be a breeze this summer.
There are several opportunities for families to choose from, some even offering financial assistance.
The Irmo Chamber of Commerce is partnering with a new non-profit called SC Career Kids for a week long camp from June 20 to 24.
"They've got different career choices that are coming in and they'll explain to the children what it is that they do, how they help the community, how they help their customers and what kind of skill sets they're looking for, really just hoping to spark that little bit of interest in a child that maybe one day they could become a financial planner or a real estate agent or own a pressure washing company," said Kerry Powers, Irmo chamber of commerce president.
For the first time, the Cayce police department is offering a character camp this summer from July 18 to 28 and scholarships are available. 12 more spots are open, too.
"You see all the crime around the world right now and it's pretty saddening and so we want to make sure that our kids in our buildings know who we are, know that we're there to protect them, know that they can come to us with anything at any time and we have that relationship with them so they feel safe and secure," Danielle McCord, lieutenant said.
The Lexington county library is also hosting summer programs for people of all ages until August 7.
You log your reading hours, activities and challenges to win prizes.
"It's our chance to really help students, especially school aged children to avoid that summer slide that happens whenever they're out of school but it also helps to remind other patrons like from birth all the way up that we have something for everybody," said Amajah Langford, Lexington County Public Library's communications coordinator.
If none of these programs appeal to you or your family, there's also a local woman in Lexington County named Allison True who is offering summer tutoring to K through 5th graders in reading, writing and math. She has posted her availability on Facebook's Avenues of West Columbia/Cayce page.
Others counties, like Kershaw and Orangeburg also have plenty of summer programs.