Staff Report - City of Alexandria

Center and Ewald Pool will open on June 27. The Memorial Pool at Charles Houston will
operate extended pool hours again this summer.
Aquatic Director Ralph Baird is working with Park Planning staff and consultants on the
aquatic study.
Environmental Education
Nature Center staff will implement a Traveling Nature Center Program in June. Staff will
make regular scheduled visits to recreation centers when after school and summer
programs are in session.
We established “Let’s Go Green” as the theme for the 2011 summer programs in the
centers. We have planned a variety of age appropriate activities to teach the children
about environmental responsibility.
Other
ACPS approved the Department’s annual request to use ACPS facilities for the period of
September 1, 2011 through August 31.
Spring and summer class data will be reported in next month’s report to the Commission.
The current percent of households participating in Department programs is 34.3%. The
national average is 30%.
The Youth Sports Advisory Board’s fields subcommittee and staff continue to meet to discuss
strategies to construct a Miracle Field in the City. The Therapeutic Recreation Program’s
Advisory Council is also involved in this effort.
Recreation Service Division program managers and I completed a 3.5 day Program Management
Institute (PMI) on May 23-27. Learning Resources Network (LERN) provided this training.
Thirty staff completed the training and 75% of staff successfully completed the certification exam
and achieved Certified Program Planner status. The remaining staff will obtain certification
before the end of August 2011.
The Recreation Services Division sent nine staff members to a 30-hour training program
based on “Advancing Youth Development,” a curriculum for training youth workers.
The training was conducted by the DC Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation
using curriculum established by the National Training Institute for Community Youth
Work. The purpose of the training is to strengthen the field of youth development
through the professional development of America’s youth workers. The areas addressed
in the four day training from June 6-9 included a youth worker self-assessment; an
introduction to the youth development approach; youth outcomes and expectations; youth
needs, opportunities and supports; core competencies; cultural assumptions and adultism;
and youth participation. Staff from RPCA trained together with staff from the DCHS,
CSB, Court Services, Youth Services, ACAP, SAPCA and other city staff involved with
youth. The consensus of the group was that the training provided useful information that
can be implemented in the workplace to create successful programs and ultimately assist
in developing better outcomes and services for youth.
Recreation Services Division staff, depending on position level, completed 2-6.5 hours of
Customer Service training in May.
RPCA was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation in May from the Mayor. The certificate was
awarded for work in the City’s Youth Employment Program in FY-2011.
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