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Winter Programs for Youths With Special Needs

Register now for TryCAN's classes at the Summit Community Center

It’s that time of year. Holiday excitement is over and the grayness of winter has begun to settle in. Kids are getting restless.

TryCAN, a collaborative effort among Summit, New Providence and Berkeley Heights, is here to help. TryCAN offers recreational activities at the for kids with special needs, or who need special accommodations. Winter programs, which will run 4–6 weeks, begin Jan. 17. Registration can be done up to the date a program starts, and there are no additional non-resident fees.

Kevin Taylor, coordinator for TryCAN, said the classes are purposely smaller.

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“We try to keep the classes small,” he said. “The kids don’t react well to big crowds.”

Sports classes will have approximately 10 kids, and nonsports like Reading Club or Socials Skills is 5 or 6 kids per class.

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Classes typically fill, and Taylor said peer mentors and the experienced professionals who lead the classes contribute to their popularity. Peer mentors are middle or high school students who have gone through TryCAN’s training program. He said the kids really learn and look up to their mentors.

In the two plus years that TryCAN has been functioning, almost 300 mentors have gone through the training program. Mentors learn about what it’s like to be disabled, and what working with the kids will be like.

“The kids really bond with the mentors after a while,” Taylor said. “You see some nice things at the classes.”

Taylor said TryCAN was born out of the desire for some of Summit’s parents to have quality recreational activities for their children with special needs.

 “There weren’t any [programs] and the kids would be isolated...home watching TV and playing video games. Often times its difficult for them to be in a typical class,” he said. “So we started looking around and started little by little coming up with little classes we could do and we got a lot of help from Summit Community Center.”

For a copy of the winter flyer with complete dates and times, instructor information, and pricing and registration information, contact summitcan@gmail.com or call Summit Department of Community Programs at 908-277-2932. Stop by the Summit Community Center to pick up a copy of the flyer, register or ask any questions.

  • Reading Club: Tuesdays or Thursdays, 4:00–4:45 p.m., Jan. 17–Mar. 1; $82 Tuesdays only (7 classes); $82 Thursdays only (7 classes).
  • Music with Jammin’ Jenn–Thursdays, 6:00-6:30 p.m.; Jan. 19–Feb. 9; $60.
  • Baseball Skills: Sundays, 3:00-3:45 p.m. (6–9 year olds); 4:00-4:45 p.m. (ages 10+); Jan. 22–Mar. 4 (5 classes); $50.
  • Social skills/video modeling for 3–5 year olds: Saturdays, 12:00–12:45 p.m.; Jan. 21–Feb. 25 (5 classes); $100.
  • Social skills/video modeling for 6-7 year olds: Saturdays, 12:45–1:30 p.m.; Jan. 21–Feb. 25 (5 classes); $100.
  • Social Skills, using technology, for 8­–12 year olds: Mondays, 5:00–5:45 p.m.; Jan. 23–Feb. 27 (5 classes); $100.
  • Teen Friendship Group, to practice social skills: Mondays, 5:45-6:30 p.m.; Jan. 23–Feb. 27 (5 classes); $100.
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