TAKE A BREAK

MAT-SU — Blowing snow and freezing winds aside, spring has hit the Mat-Su Valley.

At least it has for area schools observing spring break this week.

Thousands of youths with nothing to do for the week are apparently spending much of their time at home, said Howie Marks, director of the Boys and Girls Club of Mat-Su. Although school is out for the week, many children who have older siblings are left in their care, he said.

“It’s really surprising, really,” he said about the spring break turnout on Monday, which had about a dozen youths at the club. “We’re open on all the (school) holidays, all in-service days and teacher conferences. But most of our kids who come here have siblings who are in middle or high school, and most of our kids are elementary age.”

From 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., children and teens are welcome at the club, Marks said. During spring break, the computer lab opens up at 2 p.m., which is about two hours earlier than when school is in session.

“The kids go cuckoo for that,” Marks said. “And our art program has been pretty successful lately. It’s really awesome, and it’s been busy in there. They’ve been super busy building St. Patrick’s Day stuff” for an upcoming fund-raiser.

In the club’s main recreation room, Devron Harris finishes up a game of Battleship and is excited to move on to the next game.

He’s “very glad” to come to the Boys and Girls Club instead of going to class at Cottonwood Creek Elementary School.

If it weren’t for having a place to go during spring break, “I’d probably be sitting at home,” he said. “If it wasn’t spring break and it was, like, Saturday, I’d be home watching TV or sleeping.”

Harris likes having other children his age to play with and pestering the club’s staff.

“Actually, I know what makes it fun here. You get to go in the gym and you get to bother people,” he said.

Harris has two teenage brothers at home, “but it’s not as fun” to bother them, he said, “because when I bother them I get in trouble.”

Across the room, Dominic Nino, 11, Mykal Nelson, 9, and Skyler Baldwin, 10, are engrossed playing a video game. The three have connected their hand-held Nintendo DS systems and play Mario Party.

They expect to play “pretty much until the club closes at 6:30,” Nino said, adding that they share a charger to keep their batteries from going dead. “We have to keep charging them up, but if we take turns on the charger, yeah, we can keep it up.”

While the three can play each other, early Monday afternoon “the computer is pretty much winning right now,” he said.

The Boys and Girls Club isn’t the only place for students to spend their extra free time. There are also options that will keep them fit and active. The AT&T Sports Center on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway is hosting its second Spring Break Action Camp.

From 9 a.m., and into the afternoon, staff and coaches host morning basketball sessions and a variety of other activities, like kickball, floor hockey, dodgeball, soccer and badminton, said Kelly Randolph, the center’s front desk manager.

“The morning session’s definitely busier,” she said. “That’s when we have basketball skills, conditioning and games. … We did (the action camp) last year too, and it was really successful. We usually try to have something whenever school’s out.”

Cost for the camp is $10 for members per session, $15 for nonmembers, or a week-long pass can be purchased for $100 for members and $150 for nonmembers.

In Wasilla, the Alaska Club Valley is a big draw for spring breaking students, said front desk manager Guido Galloway. Along with open gym time, the facility’s swimming pool is popular.

“We expect there’s going to be more use during spring break,” he said. “Our gym’s been packed every day since Friday. We get a lot more members signing in guests to use the pool and use the gym.”

Members can use the facilities free, he said and can bring a guest for $10 for the day.

While the Boys and Girls Club and athletic centers provide active and fun entertainment for youth, others are taking advantage of their spring break to be more industrious.

Jennifer Coisman is a 17-year-old who spent a chilly day in the wind trying to sell Girl Scout cookies in the Sears parking lot. A Girl Scout for 10 years, Coisman perennially is the state’s top cookie seller. She sold 3,500 boxes last year and hopes to sell 4,700 this year.

But keeping warm was the first order of business.

“The wind is just crazy,” she said. “It’s hard for me to walk out there.”

Still, even with the cold wind, selling cookies beats school, she said.

“If it wasn’t spring break, right now I’d be in school,” Coisman said. “I’d probably be in English. I’m not a fan of English.”