Collaborative school holiday program in Maningrida

Kids and young people in Maningrida will agree that the Term 3 holidays were something to remember. 
Every day offered activities and programs to participate in, ranging from fishing to dancing, to make sure the space between terms was as full and fun as possible. 
Evening basketball, always a favourite among the rising All Stars of Maningrida, kicked off most nights led by the new Youth, Sport and Recreation (YSR) Assistant Mesaik. Mesaik was able to test out some of the recent drills and skills activities which were learned during a recent visit from Basketball NT. Looking ahead, the YSR team is keen to kick start a local competition and support young people to develop their play and learn skills in training, umpiring and coaching. During the mornings, the RSAS team took young people out to local fishing spots to catch their lunches – mullets, barra, mud mussels and many more local delicacies reaching the menu. 
Dancers Jinu and Caleena from Artback Projects in Darwin landed in town for week 2 of the school holidays and will stay on until the end of the first week of term 4. Teaming up with the Youth Centre, YSR and RSAS, they provided morning and evening dance workshops – featuring Zumba, hip hop, soca and many more – for young people. Big thanks to the RSAS crew for the pick ups of young people who live in New Sub and Bottom Camp. The Crèche also got involved in dance workshops, mums and bubs coming along for morning and afternoon groove sessions designed specifically for them and even an Aqua Zumba class at the Maningrida Pool.
The pool itself was a major attraction during the holidays. Much energy was burned splashing and practicing their strokes and skidding along the inflatable slip ‘n’ slide which came out multiple times over the two weeks. 
Maningrida’s larger than life Tidy Towns celebration was based at the pool. In a magnificent display of teamwork, the pool, YSR and works teams came together to cook up one of Maningrida’s biggest barbecues. The menu included fresh fish, Kakadu plum, magpie goose, snags, buffalo ribs and potato salad and resulted in full bellies and big smiles for the 150 plus attendees. The inflatable slip ‘n’ slide made an appearance and provided slippery, soapy amusement for all.  Big thanks to Hasty Tasty, Karl and the Bawinanga fishermen and nursery crew, Mayor Matthew Ryan and all the chefs on duty from the works team and RSAS for their supervision support. And congratulations to all those who won an award and indeed the whole community. 
The holidays concluded with a movie night at Maningrida Pool on Saturday evening. Ten young people arrived early to help the YSR/Pool teams to set up the screen and help to make and decorate over 100 popcorn boxes. Classic hit ‘Madagascar 3’ was the choice and community members enjoyed fresh fruit and popcorn as they watched the on screen adventures. Big thanks to all those, big and small, who helped set up and pack up – your support is amazing.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to such a fabulous school holiday program in Maningrida – the action packed school holidays reflect the importance of collaboration and team work.
The fun does continue as Artback wrap up another week in Maningrida running school time and afterschool dance programs, Adam from Basketball kicks off training and competition and Mark and Sol run swimming classes at the pool for the next few weeks.