Community Schools
Dear Editor: Hames Center is excited to announce and accept a 5-year contract with the Sitka School District to manage after-school facility use of the Blatchley gyms. (NOTE: not the pool as Monday’s newspaper article stated.) With the recent closure of Community Schools and funding cuts, the future of youth and adult league athletics was looking grim. After many conversations amongst our team and community members, we couldn’t sit back and watch what has been a staple and an asset to the community go away.
The reality was/is that Hames Center’s gym alone is not enough space to meet the demand. With limited funds, Hames Center will coordinate Blatchley rentals for youth, adult and organizational activities and run adult basketball and volleyball leagues – with the potential of a soccer league for the first year. We will partner with Youth Advocates of Sitka so they may provide continued after-school programming for middle school youths, as well as community skate nights. We hope to cooperatively develop additional programming in the future over the multi-year contract.
We look forward to partnering with the Sitka School District as we know they are delighted to see the rich history of Community Schools combine with the success of the Hames Center as a non-profit provider of recreation and health programming. We look forward to continuing to enrich the quality of life for our community as this program aligns with our mission to support a community approach to health and wellness.
All inquiries and rental reservations for community recreation at Blatchley will go through the Hames Center office. Myself and our rental coordinator can be reached at 747-5080 or by email at rec@hamescenter.org. We will be reaching out to adult league participants in the near future to ensure leagues continue to be strong and affordable – and we will need your help to make it a success! If you are a head coach or program leader that has relied on the use of Blatchley facilities through Community Schools please email me at dawnjohnson@hamescenter.org.
We cannot thank the community enough for continued support as we strive to keep Sitkans of all ages healthy and well, active and thriving!
Dawn Johnson,
Hames Center Director
