NILES — Ballard Elementary ended its classes for the summer, but on Monday, inside some of its classrooms, strange substances were being made.

Second through fifth-grade students of area schools created “sparkle slime” out of baking soda, contact solution, glue and glitter, while mentors and teacher volunteers supervised.

It was the slime of the day for the Ooey Gooey program of Summer My Way, a six-week summer camp hosted by Niles-Buchanan YMCA and Niles Community Schools. Monday was its first day this year.

Each day of camp, kindergarten through fifth-grade students come to Ballard to take part of programming that is partly educational and always fun, said Cody Armstrong, NCS teacher and co-facilitator of the program.

Program director Nicole Mireles agreed.

“It’s fun, controlled chaos,” she said.

Every two weeks, participants can choose curriculums based their grade, like Ooey Gooey. Then, they attend those programs during the day, Mireles said.

Some programs involve some of more than 30 organizations partnering with Summer My Way. Mireles provided some examples. In the Danger Zone’s curriculum, children learn how to swim at the YMCA and visit a wastewater treatment plant to learn about proper sanitation.

At other times, children will take group field trips to places like Fernwood Botanical Garden.

“Our goal is to get as many kids engaged in something and active for the summer,” Mireles said.

Breakfast, lunch, a weekly free book and activities like independent reading are also provided.

Most of the program’s staff are volunteers, Armstrong said. The team is made up of 10 teachers, 10 support staff and about 30 NCS middle school and high school children.

“I love it,” Armstrong said. “You see these kids in different ways. It’s a safe place for kids in the summer.”

Ninth-grade student Allison Andres was one of 10 of Armstrong’s former English students to join the program as a mentor.

Andres used to attend Summer My Way. Now, she mentors third-grade students. On Monday, she helped her mentees build durable, tall skyscrapers as part of their Engineering Madness curriculum.

Andres said she enjoyed learning and playing sports and games when she was an attendee of the program. Now, she enjoys spending time with her younger peers while making sure they are following programming.

“You have to make sure all the kids are staying on task and working together,” she said.

The Summer My Way program is open to any student. Enrollment is still open for kindergarten through third-grade students. Mireles said that students of NCS can get a special discounted rate, and that any prospective attendee’s guardians can apply to receive a YMCA scholarship to reduce the camp’s cost.