College for Kids started innocently enough.

Fifty summers ago, roughly 200 school-aged children came to the Merced College campus to learn the basics at the Blue Devil Volleyball School and the Blue Devil Baseball School.

By summer’s end this year, nearly 2,000 students will have descended upon the Merced and Los Banos campuses to explore theater, art, science, sports, aquatics and much more at College for Kids during its 50th anniversary year.

“It was one thing we always looked forward to each summer,” Merced College President Emeritus Ben Duran said. “College for Kids was never a burden to keep going. It has always been a plus.”

The first group of 2026 sessions ran in June. After a break, College for Kids resumed sessions for July 6-9, July 13-16 and July 20-23. (There are still open spots.)

The program hits the youngest demographic of the community college mission by welcoming children on summer vacation to explore new interests with new classmates in a safe space.

“We want to put College for Kids in everyone’s ears,” Community Education Coordinator Momi Mix said. “We’re doing so much good by welcoming kids to campus. We confidently say to all these young people, ‘Merced College is for you, too.’”

Nearly 40 years ago, current Vice President of Administrative Services Joe Allison was an Atwater High graduate about to embark on what would be a great Blue Devil basketball career when he got his first taste of College for Kids.

He and teammates were directed by former coach Bill Russell to run younger children through passing, dribbling and shooting drills at their summer camps.

“Basically we were ‘volun-told’,” said Allison, who sent his own three children to College for Kids for years. “I remember feeling a little apprehensive, but Coach Russell left it to us to figure out how to make it fun for the kids. He gave us that flexibility. From the first moment, I realized it’s just fun. It was such an enjoyable experience.”

Back to the Future

College for Kids has evolved as the world changed. For example, computer classes used to simply be about operating a computer and learning about internet searches. By 2006, students could program robots and learn about internet safety. In 2026, there’s a class for them to learn how to produce a short podcast.

More than 20 years ago, Rebecca Manandic, a master hula teacher, and Keith Tetangco, a Merced High tennis coach and science teacher, became CFK instructors. They remain the longest-tenured instructors in the program.

Manandic takes the “enrichment” part of the mission personally.

“First of all, I love to teach hula and I love the children,” she said. “But most places teach it incorrectly. We call out the motions in Hawaiian so they have to learn the proper terminology. They learn the Hawaiian words and the background to all of the songs. I teach in the traditional manner so kids get a real education.”

Last summer Jennifer Trost, Director of Contract Education and Community Services, said the college worked with Merced City School District Director of State and Federal Programs Aaron Alexander to soft launch an effort to bring students to College for Kids.

“We filled as many program spots as we could with MCSD students, and then we planned for them in 2026,” Trost said. “The grant now covers registration, transportation, meals and snacks for MCSD students who are in a full-day program.”

For the summer 2026, the college was able to sign up an additional 252 students. The program offered 34 enrichment sessions in 2025, then worked hard to nearly triple the options to 96 this summer.

Trost and her team also cut two-week sessions back to one week, giving students more options.

“We want to give more exposure to the subjects,” she said. “We could see that two weeks was a little too long. Weekly classes give students more time to explore.”

Something for Every Kid

College for Kids features aquatics, sports, and producing and performing a full play. Kids can also take classes in the arts, dance, and culinary arts, or learn about the history of the Middle Ages by building structures typical of the time.

You can drill down on math, or learn how to record your own music. You can learn how to sing, or use physics principles to design your own flying machine.

Dean of Science Technology Engineering & Math Instruction Marie Bruley has a son who has done College for Kids for four years now. He started with baseball, then basketball, moved onto swimming, and now has gravitated to hands-on learning classes like STEM courses and anything dinosaur-themed.

“He took this ‘Nothing But Air’ class where they made a lot of things with paper, like paper airplanes,” Bruley said. “And my son was obsessed with paper airplanes for a time. He made bags and bags of paper airplanes. His interest was so sincere. I think that’s excellent.”

With 96 enrichment sections, 102 aquatics sections, the theater program, and 20 sports camps this summer, Merced College has produced 3,819 individual section registrations. Now Trost and her team are looking ahead to the next decade.

Manandic said the opportunity to share her passion is reason enough to return year after year.

“I’ve been doing this for a lot of years, so I get a lot of students coming back every summer,” Manandic said. “That makes this experience so much fun.”

The Merced College community appreciates the College for Kids experience. Krystal Pollinger, Executive Assistant to the Superintendent/President, has a new perspective on the goings-on as she now watches her son participate.

“I went for a walk recently with some other employees and said, ‘Let’s go by where the kids are,’” Pollinger said. “Having all the littles on campus is another kind of joy that we get to experience here.”