|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Typically during the school year, Rochester’s R-Centers offer a few youth sports leagues and one catch-all after-school program, R-Stars. In the summer, as young residents’ schedules open up, these recreation centers fill in the gaps with more programming.
The city reports a total of 100,000 visits at R-Center locations over the course of the summer. That number includes attendance in structured programs, events, and use of outdoor green spaces, playgrounds, and spray parks.
“Attendance is certainly one measure of success, but it is far from the only one. We also look at participant engagement, program quality, and whether young people are returning because they feel connected and valued,” says Kendra Hayle, director of recreation center operations. “We also value feedback from participants and families, which helps us continually improve our programs and ensure we’re meeting the needs of our community.”
Teenagers often feel as though they are not welcome in public spaces, according to an Axios report published last month. The report explains that teens without money or access to a car lack places to go. Anti-loitering laws and spending requirements leave teens feeling left out.
In the past, this feeling of exclusion has led to teenagers organizing large group hangouts via social media, a phenomenon called “teen takeovers.” These can amass hundreds of attendees.
In May, the Rochester Police Department responded to a teen takeover of 400 young people at Ontario Beach when dozens of young people engaged in physical violence. No arrests were made.
Mayor Malik Evans addressed the event at a press conference shortly after the incident. “Using these public places (is) a privilege and not a right,” he said.
Neighborhood R-Centers offer teenagers an alternative space. The R-Center summer programs are free for city of Rochester residents. There is a $60 fee for non-city residents.
The city of Rochester allocated $4,280,700 for R-Centers in the 2025-2026 budget. In the proposed budget for 2026-2027, the city is allocating $4,403,100. According to the budget from this past year, there are 39 full-time city employees designated specifically to R-Centers and 52 part-time and seasonal employees.
“Recreation centers are a great safe place for young people to go during the summertime,” says Isaac Bliss, the city’s director of youth services. “It’s a spot where they can go and they can engage in a myriad of different activities.”
Rochester has 12 R-Centers that are open year-round. There are no locations in Charlotte, where the Ontario Beach incident took place in May. There is also a lack of recreation centers in neighboring Maplewood and Irondequoit, although a new nature center has just opened in Maplewood.
Teens can attend a multitude of programs around the city based on their interests.
At Hope R-Center on Campbell Street, teenagers can participate in weekly sports clinics with a rotating focus on a different sport each week. A few R-Center locations offer Summer Play Days, an all-day camp-like program for youth ages six to 17. This more open-ended session allows teenagers to hang out at R-Centers without choosing a specific interest. Teens can participate in coding lessons, outdoor play, and field trips.
Biz Kid$ is a week-long educational program that teaches youth ages 10 to 17 how to start and run their own businesses. Participants learn how to conduct market research, have real-world opportunities to practice their sales skills, and end the week with a Shark Tank–style business pitch.
“Summer recreation is about much more than keeping young people occupied, it’s about creating opportunities that support healthy development and strengthen our neighborhoods,” says Hayle. “Our primary goal is to provide safe, welcoming, and engaging spaces where young people can learn, grow, and have fun throughout the summer.”
However, maintaining attendance can prove difficult. This is in part due to older adolescents who may have summer employment, or whose parents trust them to stay home during the day.
“We don’t really get a lot of middle or high schoolers in for summer play days,” Hayle says. “They’re able to get work experience or an internship or something like that, so that’s kind of that age where they graduate from coming to camp to having one of those experiences.”
Bliss and his team work to offer summer employment and internship opportunities to Rochester teenagers. This summer, the city of Rochester is employing about 300 teenagers in seasonal part-time and full-time positions.
“Some of the greatest benefits of youth being able to participate in the summertime and workforce development opportunities is that they are able to gain job-readiness skills,” says Janai Gray, coordinator of youth workforce development for the city. “They’re able to be connected to opportunities that they wouldn’t ordinarily be connected to.”
The city has over 79 partnerships with local workplaces to train teen employees. These partnerships allow Rochester teens a variety of opportunities, including shadowing doctors and surgeons in hospitals, gaining experience in restaurants, and planning events.
Audtra Fitzgerald is a recent graduate of Ithaca College and a member of the Oasis Project’s third cohort.
The Beacon welcomes comments and letters from readers who adhere to our comment policy including use of their full, real name. See “Leave a Reply” below to discuss on this post. Comments of a general nature may be submitted to the Letters page by emailing [email protected].