Summer service programs teach teens empathy
With almost seven decades of experience, Putney’s educational student travel service taps into an international network of teachers, farmers, merchants, artisans and other organizations to allow high school students to safely step out of their comfort zone One available trip, Community Service Tanzania, involves collaborating on small-scale construction projects such as building a classroom, farming, teaching English to local children, market shopping and cooking combined with nature excursions and a stay in a remote Maasai village.
Apogee combines the power of an outdoor experience with achievable challenges and light volunteerism such as food banks, orphanages, state parks, and farms, all tied closely to the communities students visit. One of the banner service programs is a two-week stint in Puerto Rico where volunteers offer hurricane relief and work on community projects.
Rustic Pathways has been creating student adventures for 35 years. With more than 100 itineraries in 19 countries — it also has spring break and gap-year programs — trips range from a week in the Dominican
“Part of the zoo’s mission is public education,” Maynard said. “(The book) is reaching kids and families with a message of hope ...
Republic with a single day of service to the more intense “Come With Nothing, Go Home Rich” bare-bones itinerary in Thailand, where participants spend three weeks in the mountainous hill tribe region living and working with villagers.
The popularity of WE Day, a celebration of youth activism in cities across North America and in the United Kingdom that is headlined by celebrities like Selena Gomez, Kelly Clarkson, Nelly and Malala Yousufzai, underscores the power of the ME to WE community service movement. The organization’s summer programs, called ‘‘take action camps’’ and youth volunteer trips to countries such as Brazil, India, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Ethiopia, blend sightseeing and fun with rural community immersion to inspire self-discovery and an appreciation for new cultures.
Visions is a mainstay in offering service adventures, its itineraries veering more toward immersion (five to seven hours a day, four to five days a week). A long-standing program on offering poverty assistance on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana also focuses on land preservation and infrastructure projects.