Fresno Unified expands winter break camps for up to 10,000 students

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- When school's out this holiday break in December, winter camps will begin for Fresno Unified School District kids.

This year more students than ever can participate in the 40 camps being offered at no cost to families. They include pickleball, rock climbing, Adulting 101, zoo camp and more.

At China Peak Resort, managing partner Tim Cohee is excited to welcome the next generation of diverse skiers. Some have never visited the mountains or seen snow.

"The main event is to get kids on skis and snowboards that frankly have never had the opportunity to do that," said Cohee. "When I have seen that happen in the past, it's a pretty exciting thing because they get up here and they have just never experienced anything like this."

Tressa Overstreet with Fresno Unified says that there are opportunities for up to 10,000 of the district's students to take part in a camp.

"We certainly know that many of our students would not have had the opportunities to participate in camps because camps cost money," she said. "All of our camps are free."

For those with creative interests, digital illustration and art camp will feature sticker-making, painting and paper-based art. Kids can have a front-row seat to being a first responder at the career camp hosted by Fresno Police, Fresno Fire and American Ambulance.

"Everything from SWAT to our helicopter unit, K-9, they got to see it first-hand," said FPD Chief Paco Balderrama. "And it opens up the possibilities in their minds of what is possible for them. What they can do with their future."

At Breaking the Barriers: Parkour, Archery and Taekwondo.

"It really just builds their confidence in themselves because they are going to find out new gifts and we are going to try and develop them as fast as we can in that one week," said Deby Hergenrader from Breaking the Barriers. "It might not be easy for them to get out of their neighborhood to come here and this is going to allow them to dream outside of their environment."

Fresno Unified parents should make sure to have their cell phone numbers updated in ATLAS. Parents will receive a text message between this Monday and Wednesday with a personalized registration link for their students. Space is limited for each camp. More information can be found here.