Outward Bound. Life changing. Great program.

Girl Scout camp has lots of kids that aren’t Girl Scouts during the year. Tampa Bay Busch Gardens in Florida has great zoo camp for teens. They are met at airport by counselors. My daughter loved it.

Job

Look at seasonal things, concession stand at the pool, ice cream parlor, etc

My kids started working at 14. County park.

Anonymous wrote:At 15 my kids work during the summer. Most do county camp counselor during the day and then retail at night and on the weekend.

Your kids work retail just during the summer? How long ago was this? There’s not a sudden need for retail during the summer.

At 15 my kids work during the summer. Most do county camp counselor during the day and then retail at night and on the weekend.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like this isn’t something she’s thinking about but a 15 yo can get a paying job that might teach her some good life lessons (lifeguard/park/bagging groceries etc)

+1 No better way to build confidence than having a job and making your own money.

+1

Rising sophomore or rising junior? If rising junior, look at college prep stuff-- SAT classes, university programs, etc.

If rising sophomore, then camp counselor.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like this isn’t something she’s thinking about but a 15 yo can get a paying job that might teach her some good life lessons (lifeguard/park/bagging groceries etc)

+1 No better way to build confidence than having a job and making your own money.

I also heard it was hard for a 14/15 yr old to get a job. Is this really true? Any tips/tricks to score a job for your teen?

OP I would get her to take a COR and Basic First Aid class and have her get a simple resume together and a couple of references and get the word out that she is interested in sitting. Families often patch camps, vacation, grandparent weeks and sitters together. While I think all day every day would not be good , a couple of days a week or a couple of weeks might be perfect. You could suggest upper elementary and depending on where you live perhaps might be able to walk or take public transportation on some outings.

It isn't easy to get a proper summer job at 15 although lifeguarding is an option. My DS is taking geometry this summer plus driver's ed and then we are going away for a week on vacation. That's basically the whole summer except for the first week or two after school ends.

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like this isn’t something she’s thinking about but a 15 yo can get a paying job that might teach her some good life lessons (lifeguard/park/bagging groceries etc)

+1 No better way to build confidence than having a job and making your own money.

Sounds like this isn’t something she’s thinking about but a 15 yo can get a paying job that might teach her some good life lessons (lifeguard/park/bagging groceries etc)

My 15 yr old is doing sleepaway camp for 2 weeks (it's a camp she's done since she was 9 and this is the last year). CIT for probably 2 weeks at a local nature camp. All of August will be marching band.

If she still likes the sports, maybe volunteer with one of those camps?

If she likes the outdoors, check out The Youth Conservation Corps - it places teens in state or national parks to work for a few weeks (state program) or longer (national program)
https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/youth-conservation-corps
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/youthprograms/ycc.htm


Locally, other than volunteering at a camp, might be hard to find a service activity that fills a lot of time in summer.

Hello. Would love to hear how your teen is spending the summer. Mine has usually done camps for her two sports but that is less likely this year for a couple of reasons. She doesn't have any relationships with a summer camp, so isn't plugged into a CIT type of situation like many of her friends.

Would be particularly interested in community service opportunities. or even something aimed at building confidence or leadership skills in girls, as adolescence has been a little hard on her. But any and all ideas welcome. She has dabbled in a lot of things over the years, but doesn't have a true passion quite yet. We'd be interested in exposing her to something new. (some of her past activities include: soccer; basketball; photography; animal rescue). Thanks in advance for the ideas.