​Camp Promise Provides Free Summer Enrichment Program for Lenoir County students

School may be out for the summer but oVER 100 Lenoir County students began their Camp Promise summer learning experience on Tuesday, July 5, 2016. 

Camp Promise is the free summer enrichment program of the Kinston Promise 21st Century Community Learning Centers program of Kinston Promise Neighborhood and is funded by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Students will be provided exposure to a variety of activities including literacy, reading and math; STEM workshops; daily journaling; public speaking; physical activity including martial arts and dance, character education; children’s gardening; radio/media workshops; family engagement; and educational field trips.

Camp Promise offers the Take 5 and Read literacy initiative and provides free books for the students to read during camp and for the rest of the summer.  A generous donation from First Book, Inc. will make it possible for every student to receive 2-3 books to help start or expand their home reading collections.

According to Theresa Williams-Bethea, Kinston Promise Director, “The summer months pose a great challenge for our youth where reading, math and academic skills are concerned. To help prevent the summer slide in learning, we work to keep our youth inspired encourage reading and journaling during each day of camp.”

Camp Promise is a participant in the INSPIRE 2016 program of Vision Builder Adventures.  Students will participate in hands-on STEM learning experiences in Robotics, Rocketry and Aerodynamics during the week of July 11.  Johnny White, President of Vision Builders shared, “We are excited to return to Kinston and Camp Promise and look forward to working with the youth.”


Academic enrichment field trips will include visits to the North Carolina Museum of Natural History and the NC Legislative Buildings in Raleigh; the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher; Tryon Palace in New Bern; and Fayetteville State University.

Family engagement activities designed to encourage parents to spend time with their children will include a movie night; journaling about their community and a family coloring project.

Lunch and snacks will be provided daily by the Lenoir County Public Schools Summer Feeding program.

For additional information or to register for Camp Promise, please call Kinston Promise at 252/208-1690 or 252/686-5160 or send an e-mail to kinstonpromise@yahoo.com.