Kids’ free time fills up quickly

One student left his teacher’s room, flopped on the grass and yelled, “It’s summer!”

Another boy leaped into the air with his report card in hand.

Some students took their time leaving and gave their teachers extra hugs.

This was the last class of sixth-graders to leave this 52-year-old version of Ridgeview. The school will be torn down this summer and rebuilt. In the fall, all returning students will be farmed out to a host school for one year.

But for now, it was “Hello, summer.” At least for the kids.

Parents like Mimi Berlinger stood in the back of Ridgeview Elementary’s gymnasium Thursday morning as her son and his classmates were honored in a sixth-grade promotion ceremony.

After the ceremony, Berlinger planned to take her son to a restaurant and then get back to work. “They’re expecting me at 12:30,” she said.

School is out for summer at Spokane Public Schools. Mead, Central Valley and West Valley have their last day of school today.

While students are anticipating days of sleeping in and free time with no homework, parents are considering how to get through the summer.

Some households have begun mapping out an orderly list of day camps and activities to provide a little more order to their children’s free time. Other parents are more laid back.

“We’re winging it,” said Shawn Reigel, a nurse who works two jobs.

Her oldest, a Shadle Park High School student, serves as the household commander while she’s working.

“I can always get him by phone,” Reigel said, as she snapped a picture of her daughter posing with a friend.

Reigel grew up in Wisconsin and remembers her summers of catching frogs and snakes by the pond. Summers in Spokane are a little different. In her north Spokane neighborhood, parents informally take turns watching over the groups of young people who play together.

While many people do the weeklong day camps that provide activities for a few hours at a time, the prices are a little high for a single mom with three children, Reigel said.

Andrew Handelin, a third-grader at Ridgeview, usually spends much of his summer at a Spokane County Parks and Recreation camp while his dad works during the day.

Handelin is an avid writer who composed a long letter for his teacher a few days ago. He also read his class a poem he wrote about their new school:

“I want to stay here, but I have to go to Browne.

I sure will miss it while it’s being demolished down.

That’s Ridgeview. Fun for a lot and boring for a few.”

Some families have been planning their summer for months.

Jaque Porter, a north Spokane mother of four boys, works to keep her children active.

“We do a lot of family camping. We joined all of the summer reading clubs,” said Porter, a stay-at-home mother. “I enjoy the summertime. It gives us a chance to spend more time together.”

It helps that her brother-in-law has a swimming pool, but she finds that with four boys, a sprinkler provides pretty good entertainment, too.

Tami Ressa has to work this summer. To cope with her two grade-school kids’ sudden free time, she started collecting information on summer camps this spring.

“The kids like to stay busy,” said Ressa, who’s the Gonzaga Prep alumni relations and communications director.

Her daughter will likely do gymnastics and a “science safari” at Gonzaga Prep. Her son will likely play tennis and golf. She’s left some flexibility in their schedules.

Ressa was a stay-at-home mom for 10 years, but when she started working through summers, she and her husband worked to build more structure for their family.

“For the working parent, (summer) does tend to be a little more stressful,” Ressa said.

But she also believes kids need time to rest and play at their own pace.

“I don’t think you have to plan months ahead,” Ressa said. “For me, it gave me peace of mind.”