My kid did a YMCA CIT camp. Most kids were there to earn hours. It went well. If you go through it at least once you can apply for a counselor position when you meet the age requirement. Some kids seem to do CIT twice and then apply.

The Montgomery College classes that offer SSL hours are pretty good. There are several history ones, an interior design one, not sure about other topics. My kids enjoyed them in 8th/9th grade.

My kid did the Future Leaders training the summer he was 13 and then volunteered for SSL hours at City of Rockville camp the summers he was 14 and 15. He liked the training but not the volunteer work, where they are doing little more than keeping kids out of trouble. I also mistakenly thought that after the Future Leaders training, he'd be placed somewhere for most of the next summer. Nope. It's a 2 week stint and you still have to pay for them to volunteer, though the cost was low -- maybe $60 or $70. He only went back at age 15 because at my insistence: he was too old to go to camp but too young to be hired anywhere and needed to keep him busy.

Anonymous wrote:I think it is such a racket. My son staffed one for 3 or 4 weeks because he needed something to do in the summer. It was a fine experience for a child who was 15. However, the racket part was twofold: this was at a non-profit org that charges crazy fees for camp enrollment. The parents have no clue that the teens there--who have most of the responsibility/interaction with kids and literally act like counselors--are unpaid. My kids never went to that camp as campers, but I would have been livid to find this out as a parent. Second, the camp tries to get them to come back for 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th summers as volunteer counselors. We are not talking about a camp that has ongoing relationships with its 'people.' The environment teaches kids that their time/work is not valuable, which I think is a big problem (it is also not like NJ or NY where parents expect to tip camp consolers...which I am happy is not the culture here, and working for tips like that presents is own other sets of issues I'm not comfortable with). Also, I think a set up like this is fine for a 14 or 15 year old, once, but in a big problem in an ongoing way. Service is importance, but the structure of this makes it a big racket.

It depends on the camp, look around for ones that invest time and training in their counselors. If it’s a camp where kids are warehouses for the day, don’t expect the volunteers to have a valuable experience.

My kid went to one of those “stem” camps the teach programming through Minecraft educational edition. Total racket and waste of time.

On the other hand his sailing camp was amazing and it was half the price. Volunteers counselors get training in first aid, learn to operate a motorboat, get certifications from US sailing. Paid counselors are making over $20 an hour.

Look up and do your due diligence, as you would when looking for a real job.

I think it is such a racket. My son staffed one for 3 or 4 weeks because he needed something to do in the summer. It was a fine experience for a child who was 15. However, the racket part was twofold: this was at a non-profit org that charges crazy fees for camp enrollment. The parents have no clue that the teens there--who have most of the responsibility/interaction with kids and literally act like counselors--are unpaid. My kids never went to that camp as campers, but I would have been livid to find this out as a parent. Second, the camp tries to get them to come back for 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th summers as volunteer counselors. We are not talking about a camp that has ongoing relationships with its 'people.' The environment teaches kids that their time/work is not valuable, which I think is a big problem (it is also not like NJ or NY where parents expect to tip camp consolers...which I am happy is not the culture here, and working for tips like that presents is own other sets of issues I'm not comfortable with). Also, I think a set up like this is fine for a 14 or 15 year old, once, but in a big problem in an ongoing way. Service is importance, but the structure of this makes it a big racket.

I think that these can be a good way to keep kids busy and supervised during the summer when they are in the age range between most summer camps and a summer job.

I think that there are important lessons to be learned through service, and these camps do a better job of teaching them than some other service opportunities, and aren't as good as some others.

As someone who is a big believer in kids and families doing service, I think that three things that can be missing from these opportunities are

1) Making connections and having experiences outside your own community and comfort zone. Sometimes they do this, and other times kids do CIT at a camp where they attended for years, or that is similar to a camp they might have attended. If that is the case, I'd want to balance that experience with other experiences.

2) Seeking out opportunities, making the calls, checking the calendar, maybe interviewing. Service is one opportunity for this, but of course kids can also get those experiences elsewhere. It's just important that they get them.

3) Making a long term commitment. I want my kids to see that service is something that is a regular part of their lives, not just a requirement that they get out of the way. So, even if my kid technically had enough hours from one summer of middle school camp, I'd want them to keep doing something service related.

None of these things are deal breakers. Just things to be aware of.

I have seen some county/city/non profit summer camps offer SSL hours for teens signing up at summer camps either free or lower cost. I think they provide some training, and those teens help out to take care of those ES aged kids enrolled in summer camp under adult supervision. I also see some lower cost camps take teens to do community volunteer works and they offer SSL hours.

We are in MoCo. What do you think of those camps above? Good or bad way to earn SSL hours? I want my teens to learn something while doing SSL hours, is it a good way to earn those hours signing them up with these?