Highlights of Level Up

Cardboard Boat Regatta

Good Day Sacramento Reports on the Del Paso Heights Cardboard Boat Regatta.

The Cardboard Boat Regatta is one of the many exciting things we do at Level Up.

FH Young Men in their Cardboard Boat

FH Young Men showing off their popsicle stick bridge at UC Davis

Level Up

Level Up (LU) is offered this summer for the fatherless young men of Freedom Hall. LU is designed to provide a real, relevant and fun competitive learning environment that is team based.

Level Up functions as a continuation of our after school program and provides an alternative to a summer spent on the streets. LU operates on the campus of Martin Luther King Jr. Technology Academy in the Del Paso Heights community of Sacramento.

LU’s schedule is Monday-Friday from 9am to 5pm, running for 5 consecutive weeks from July 5th through August 6th. It includes the following activities:

  • Teams building Popsicle Stick Bridges, Cardboard Boats and Rockets
  • Fitness and Nutrition: Stretching, Exercise, and Eating Healthy
  • Sports: Soccer, Ultimate Frisbee, etc.  Competitions every Friday.
  • Life Skills training in tools, repairs, character building, etc.
  • Academic support focused on Reading, Writing and Math
  • Field Trips to HP, UC Davis, Camp Pahatsi, and the Air and Space Museum
  • Creative Arts series in photography, videography and drawing
  • Wednesday Movie Nights including cooking dinner on a BBQ

Level Up concludes with a community event, the “Annual Del Paso Heights Cardboard Boat Regatta” held at Grant High School’s pool. The “Regatta” features our young men competing in their team’s cardboard boat racing across the pool against the other LU teams.  It includes a BBQ, swimming and, more importantly, serves as the Level Up awards and recognition event.

Young men ranging from 11 to 16 years of age are placed into competitive teams with 8-10 other young men.  They develop real and lasting relationships and experience personal growth!