Free Summer Program for Greensboro Teens

Summer is just around the corner and that means finding activities to keep your kids busy during the school break. Greensboro Parks & Recreation is teaming up with the city's police department, City Arts, public libraries and other organizations to create a program that will give teens in Guilford County plenty of things to do.

Summer is just around the corner and that means finding activities to keep your kids busy during the school break. Greensboro Parks & Recreation is teaming up with the city's police department, City Arts, public libraries and other organizations to create a program that will give teens in Guilford County plenty of things to do.

The Summer Night Lights program will provide more than 60 fun-filled activities for teens to enjoy in the city. The program began five years ago with midnight basketball and other activities at the Sportsplex.

Michelle Gill-Moffat, coordinator of Youth Initiatives for the city's Parks & Recreation Department, says this year organizers will offer something new for teens to enjoy downtown in Festival Park.

“One of the things that we heard about when working with teens to plan this, is that they want a place to play fun childhood games, so we will have a bouncy house, vendors and other things that they can play to hang out and play with their friends,” says Gill-Moffat.  “We will have movies in the park. We will also have a jam fest on July 27, which will give high school bands the opportunity to play on the stage at Festival Park.”

All of the activities are free. Moffat says the goal of the program is to provide a safe and structured environment for teens during the summer months.

“Our hope is that by offering these programs, we are lowering the risk of negative behaviors that they can possibly engage in throughout the summer and to just give them an opportunity to experience what the city of Greensboro really has to offer,” says Moffat.

Moffat says the city is looking for volunteers and other sponsors to help with the program.

The first event for will take place June 7 at the Greensboro Sportsplex. The activities will run through August 22.