Teens & Summer Camp

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-22-2003
Teens & Summer Camp
10
Fri, 02-17-2006 - 11:56am

Does anyone have any ideas and/or suggestions? I've been trying to find a summer camp for DD. She has a 20 hr per academic school year service requirement at her high school. Between her long commute, homework load and the seemingly limited service opportunities in our community, we're having a bit of a time filling the hours. She'll have about 15 at the end of the month; all 20 have to be completed by mid-May.

A while back, I had this brilliant idea that I would find a service camp she could attend over the summer. She could more than fulfill her service hour requirement for the year (then we wouldn't have to worry about it again for a while) and have fun and make new friends at the same time.

So, I've been seaching the web and requesting info and while I've had some success, I'm rather discouraged at what I've found so far: The prices start at about $3500 and go up from that, (the whole family could go on a vacation for that price!) require traveling to Honduras, South Africa or some other remote and third world location (NOT comfortable with that idea) and are a month or so long (I was thinking more of 7-10 days).

I've checked the YMCA website and as of this time, it doesn't have it's Teen Adventures page up and running, as well as our areas Youth Sservice Directory and have come up with zilch.

Ideas? Suggestions?

I forgot to mention that the school differentiates between direct and indirect service. She could volunteer at the local animal shelter but that would be considered 'indirect' service. Serving meals, reading to seniors, tutoring school children would be considered 'direct'. For some reason, rehab work on schools, shelters, etc. qualifies as 'direct' service.




Edited 2/17/2006 12:24 pm ET by julesnalpine
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-02-2003
Fri, 02-17-2006 - 12:54pm

how old is your dd? i am not sure what you mean by camp and community service - do you mean that she would be a counselor? and that would cost so much money?

and why NOT volunteer at an old age home, homeless shelter, etc? that is the part i didn't undertand.

anyway, one organization that jumped to mind was habitat for humanity - i know that they do work in the US as well as other countries. but i don't know how old you have to be to volunteer, nor if that would be considered "direct" work. another thought would be archaeological digs - i do know that they cost money and its hard work, but it could be very rewarding and sometimes you can get college credits out of it. again - i don't know how old your dd is...

Avatar for mjaye2002
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 02-17-2006 - 1:07pm

A couple of questions...You mentioned a difference between "direct" and "indirect" service...Is she only allowed to count "direct" service towards her required 20 hrs? Also, just to verify, any service hours she might gain this summer will count towards next year's total? (In otherwords, she still needs to find 5 more hours before this school year is up, right?)

Is there a girl scout/firegirl program/camp that she could volunteer for this summer? Here our camps are nearby and are for only about 2 weeks per session. Of course, there may be more than one session per summer, but it might be an idea. There may even be something at a boy scout camp. It can't be staffed completely by men. :)

Here, we also have something called Habitat for Humanity. They build houses for the poor. They are always looking for volunteers. Don't know if you have anything like that where you are.

I wouldn't give up on the YMCA thing. You might call your nearst Y and see if they know of anything that will be opening up for this summer.

These next ideas are not a camp-type things, but in case you can't find something...
The things that came to my mind immediately would probably not be feasible where you live or where she goes to school. Our high schoolers here are encouraged to help out with our meals on wheels program. I'm not sure what exactly what the school does to help the kids do this (longer lunch period? I don't know). I don't even know if that would qualify in your dd's case.

Is there a nursing home/assisted living/hospital nearby she could volunteer at? Delivering flowers/mail/reading materials? Or a library/bookstore that offers children's hour (where volunteers read to the kiddos)? Our local Barnes and Noble store does that on occasion.

You may have already thought of all these, but I thought I would throw them out there anyway! :)

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-22-2003
Fri, 02-17-2006 - 1:11pm

DD is only 14, which makes her too young for 'Habitat for Humanity' type programs -- I checked.

As far as homeless/senior shelters, DD's schedule is such that the days (mid-week) and times (8-3) they need or want volunteers are the days and times she's in school -- I checked that out too. Plus, her homework load is such that at least one weekend day each weekend is spent on homework or a school project. Like I said, time during the school year is limited so I am trying to find something that she can do over the summer, get the hours done and then we can worry less about it next school year.

As far as the programs that cost so much money -- beats me. Seems you shouldn't have to pay an arm and a leg to VOLUNTEER. My only guess is costs are so high due to travel and housing expenses. I would also venture a guess that the places I've found on the web and contacted are NOT not-for-profit organizations.

Thanks for your input.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-22-2003
Fri, 02-17-2006 - 1:18pm

Sorry! I didn't explain myself well. Only 10 of the 20 hours can be indirect. All 20 can be direct, but 10 at least HAVE to be. And yes, she still needs about 5 hours before May.

I did look into Habitat for Humanity. It hase a 16yo age requirement; DD is only 14. I did think about the Girl Scout camp shortly after I posted. I'll have to look into that. She hasn't really been a 'camper' herself, so I don't know if she'd be up to being a counselor, or even qualify to be one.

It also occurred to me that once she's out of school, her time will free up and she'll have a much more flexible schedule and we can work in more hours.

I think that will be the key over the next three high school years -- put in the hours over the summer. The reason I thought a camp would work is because a friend of ours in another state was sending her hs DS to a community service camp over the summer to meet his Eagle Scout requirment. Sounded like a great plan to me, and tried to find something similar in our area.

Thanks for your thoughts ... I have more ideas now.

Avatar for elc11
Community Leader
Registered: 06-16-1998
Fri, 02-17-2006 - 4:50pm

Julie, my kids had a similar requirement and this is what they did: Camp Fire Boys and Girls has a summer day camp and they use teens as "Counselors in Training". They did not charge for using your kids' effort (I believe the Y charges more than $100) beyond the nominal fee to join Camp Fire. There was a training session before camp started. The camp runs M-F 8-6 kind of hours for almost every week of the summer but the CIT did not have to be present the entire day, or for every week. Several teens seemed to work just the hours required by their schools. At the end CF wrote a nice letter of commendation and listed the hours worked.

My kids worked at the day camp at Balboa Park. They had a similar program at the sleepover camp in Julian but I think it burned in the 2003 fire and may not have been rebuilt. Maybe a call to Camp Fire would tell you if this could work for your dd.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-02-2003
Sat, 02-18-2006 - 4:45am
no, what i meant was if she could fulfil the yearly requirment over the summer months - like working in an old age home/homeless shelter etc during the summer. another thought that just popped to mind was a library - i know that they always need volunteers.
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-22-2003
Sat, 02-18-2006 - 1:55pm

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Now that I know how challenging it is to get the hours in during the school year, that's the plan for the next one -- get it done and out of the way during the summer.

I started looking into camps because we live in Dullsville and I was hoping to kill two birds with one stone. Get her service hours on the record that was in venue that would allow her to spend time with teens her age instead of hanging around the house with me and younger DS.

Not only do we live in Dullsville, but this town is just plain weird. I tried to respond to a posting in our community center newsletter looking for volunteers to serve and/or deliver Thanksgiving meals to seniors. Went to the center for info. The person in charge was not in, so receptionist gave me the phone number. I went home and called, volunteering not just DD but the entire family and no one ever called me back. We went to Disneyland instead.

I went to the library just a few weeks ago. Was told they "already had a student worker". Guess they only want one.

Too weird, and that's part of the reason this is getting complicated; thanks for the suggestions.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-22-2003
Sat, 02-18-2006 - 2:13pm

Thanks, I'll look into that. I think the Girl Scouts lost their camps in Julian in 2003, too. We board horses about 1/2 between our home and Julian and witnessed those fires first-hard. We actually watched the fire move into Alpine and eventually evacuated with the horses. It was very, very scary. Those flames were enormous. The Cuyamaca National Forest is still recovering.

Anyway, I checked the Girl Scout website, and I'll look into the Camp Fire opportunities. DD is very much on board with this program!

Thanks again!

Julie

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-21-2005
Mon, 02-20-2006 - 9:41pm

Julie -
Haven't read the other posts yet (I'm a bit rushed here) - so forgive any repetition. Wow! those prices sound steep - this may be the BIG difference between Ohio and California (other than the Blue Pacific and Lake Erie). Your school and dd's sound very similar and I feel your pain about the commute and all the time it takes to fulfill the service hours. I know your dd's school is Catholic - do you have a local Catholic church that has a vacation bible school program she can help with? Would that be indirect hours? Is there a Habitat for Humanity building project anywhere nearby?

Anyway, no matter HOW yo do it, summer is certainly the time to rack up the service hours. Good luck!
jt

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-20-2005
Tue, 02-21-2006 - 10:17am

Jules,

I would suggest that serve as a volunteer counselor at a church camp for one week. They are always looking for counselors. She wouldn't get paid but one week would cover the full hours b/c all 24 hr/day will count. At our church camp, the younger counselors are paired with a college student to live in the cabin with the kids. They are responsible for making sure the kids get to the activities on time. They make sure that the kids "boo boos" are taken care by taking the kids to the first aid person. They play games and go to devotions/services with them. The younger counselors are not responsible for planning these services or activities. They participate with the kids and just try to keep up with them. It is a wonderful experience. My oldest DD volunteered for three years and was paid staff for five years.

Good Luck!!