In the fall of 2021, Ann Arbor Open teachers Jesse Deucher and Sarah Kairis started PandaPrograms.
“I had worked at camps all through college and was interested in trying to start a summer camp,” Deucher said. “We both saw a pretty big need for child care in the Ann Arbor area, especially coming out of COVID.”
As great as the need was, they had a bumpy start.
“We made an attempt at running a summer camp that was not successful,” Deucher said. “We started way too late, so the summer of 2024 was our first summer of camp”
RELATED: Eastern Michigan University Welcomes 826 Michigan to Porter Hall
This summer went much smoother; they were able to run nine and a half one week sessions. As we get deeper and deeper into the school year, their focus has shifted towards care during breaks as well as snow days. As well as this, they offer a wide range of activities such as writing workshops, art, physical activities and field trips.
“We do some partnerships with Mama’s Network, Doodles Academy,” Kairis said. “We do free events at the district library for kids with sensory needs and autism, and some programming with the Ypsilanti libraries as well.”
One of the foundational elements of PandaPrograms is their commitment to equity and adaptability.
“We have never turned any campers away due to lack of funding,” Kairis said. “We believe in reserving at least 10-20% of our spots for scholarship recipients.”
Almost all of their staff are fully certified elementary teachers—those who aren’t are typically special education teaching assistants, student teachers or substitute teachers working to get their degrees. This grounding in experience in education allows support for campers with a large range of needs.
“We have campers with type 1 diabetes. We have many campers on the autism spectrum,” Deucher said. “It’s not billed as a camp program for particular needs, but because we’re all teachers we’ve been able to support a wide range of campers.”
On September 28th, PandaPrograms will be holding PandaCamp Fall Fest in order to raise money for their scholarship fund. The event will take place at Zion Lutheran Church and will feature live music, food trucks, bounce house, face painting, playground space and much more. You can find the event on Facebook for more information.
