Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Local schools have been closed for almost two weeks.
They also had two weeks off for winter break.
With all that time off, students are having to find other activities to keep themselves occupied during the day.
Heidi Moseley, YMCA, said, "We have our day camp programs that, when we have Christmas break or winter days off, we have here at the YMCA."
Moseley said the YMCA is averaging 40 kids a day for the camps. The camps are for elementary-age children.
"We're doing whatever we can think of. We have games, skits, swimming, board games, different crafts; we're just trying to do whatever we can," she said. "Some of these kids have been here for the past four weeks."
Those who do not go to the YMCA for the camps go there for other recreation. Moseley said teen-agers will play basketball or use the pool.
"The ones not involved with our camps come in groups," she said. "It seems like a lot of junior high-age kids."
If the school cancellations continue, Moseley said, the YMCA will be available for children and teen-agers.
Many of the children at the YMCA today were playing basketball or swimming.
"I'm having fun," Lindsay Dixon, 10, said. "Me and my friends help babysitting."
Dixon said when she's not at the YMCA she is "playing some games at home, playing Mall Madness, it's my favorite game."
Sherri Brock, Kids Camp counselor, said they were trying to keep the kids from going crazy. They were also trying to keep themselves from going crazy, too.
"They don't really listen as well. They're very hyper and very active. They need to go back to school," Brock said. "They want to go back to school."
Seth Roberts, 9, is one kid ready to get back to school.
"Well, (time off) is OK, but I want to go back to get my work done and so we don't have extra days of school," Roberts said.
Roberts said when he isn't at the YMCA, he plays Nintendo 64 with his brother. But, he said, he wants to go back to school.
Roberts' friend, Kevin Rich, 8, is also ready to go back.
"I've been missing my friends and I have just been getting bored here," Rich said. When not at the YMCA, Rich said, "(I've been) going to my friend's house, playing on the snowbanks."
He said, "I just like going to school, doing work, playing with my friends."
Kyle Conrad, age 11, has been playing basketball at the YMCA during break. He's ready to get back to school, though.
"It's taking away from my break. Today, the roads weren't as bad as they've been," Conrad said.
Another reason Conrad wants to get back to school is to see some of the friends he doesn't get to see when he's out of school. He does like not having homework, though.
If it was up to Austin Farncalancia, 12, to decide what the school should do, he said he would tell them not to have school at all. He said he didn't really care if it meant going to school in the summer.
"I've been having fun playing with my friend, Jake," he said.
Camp counselor Kelley Proudfoot said the kids are ready to go back to school.
"A lot of them say they miss their teachers and stuff like that," she said. "They've been good. The hardest thing is to find things for them to do."
If there are more school cancellations, Proudfoot said, she didn't think it would be any different from what is going on now.
"As long as we keep the programs and the games interesting, it will be interesting for them," she said.
Moseley said, "As long as the Y is open, we have camp."
Other children and teen-agers in the county have been finding other activities.
Janine Hunter, Gilliam Bowling Lanes, said local teen-agers arrive at the bowling lane in large crowds.
"They stay a couple of hours. They bowl, go into the game room, get a bite to eat," Hunter said.
"We never have any trouble with them," she said. "In the six years I've worked here, we never had any trouble with the kids. We have never had to call the police."
Margaret Fritzel, programming coordinator for Warsaw Community Public Library, said, "Kids are coming in (the library) for videos and books.
"There's a steady stream of people coming in."
Some teen-agers may try to earn some extra cash while out of school, if they can.
Annette Macklin, Warsaw Wal-Mart manager, said, "We haven't scheduled them for any more hours since they've been out of school. We're already staffed. Our schedules were fixed three weeks in advance.
"It's actually our slow time, we've actually cut down the number of hours."
Macklin said there are quite a few local high school students who work at Wal-Mart. She said they work mainly during the second shift.
