Make friends. Make a difference!
Camp Fire’s teen summer programs are all about giving back, building skills, practicing leadership, and having fun! Designed specifically for rising 7th-12th graders, our service challenges and leadership training programs allow participants to gain valuable volunteer, leadership, and job training experience...all while having a blast in a group environment with friends.
Our teen leadership and service programs are great confidence AND resumé builders...oh, and they look super on applications for college and scholarships, too!
Service Challenges are awesome opportunities for teens to give back to their community in a fun group environment. Teens will participate in a different volunteer project with local non-profit organizations each day. Participants will gain community service hours, learn about the issues affecting our community, and discover how young people can make a difference.
Each Service Challenge throughout the summer will feature different volunteer projects. Youth are encouraged and welcome to participate in more than one!
DATES:
HOURS: Monday - Thursday, 9:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
WHERE: Drop off and pick up will be at our SummerKids location: Bear Creek Elementary, 51 NE 13th St, Bend, OR 97702. Teens meet at SummerKids, then ride together in Sparky the Van to their service sites.
COST: $265. Sliding scale available, no financial assistance application necessary.
SummerKids Youth (SKY) Leaders is tailored for teens who want to bring their voice and ideas to our popular SummerKids program and get a taste for what it's like to engage with younger kids through a leadership-development experience. SKY Leaders will have the opportunity to create and lead activities, songs and games for younger campers based on the week’s theme! Teens will use these experiences to build and reflect on leadership qualities and teamwork skills all while celebrating summer with their peers. With that emphasis on building leadership and teamwork skills, this program provides an awesome opportunity for someone who might want a taste of what it's like to be a Counselor in Training (CIT).
DATES AND HOURS:
COST: $265. Sliding scale available, no financial assistance application necessary.
WHERE: SummerKids at Bear Creek Elementary, 51 NE 13th St, Bend, OR 97702
Counselors in Training (CITs) gain valuable volunteer, leadership, and job training experience in a fun group environment. CITs build communication and teamwork skills, unplug from technology, connect with their community, and explore, grow, and challenge themselves.
All CITs are invited to stay overnight at Tumalo State Park on the Thursday night of their camp week. During the overnight, CITs work as a team to put on the beloved CIT skit show.
To make sure all of our CITs are well trained and know what is expected of them at camp, we will have a mandatory training at Tumalo State Park in early June. Even if you have been a CIT before, training is important to ensure that you bond as a team and that you are a part of planning any special themes or activities for camp. And, it's fun! Details will be sent out in an email prior to the training.
DATES:
COST: $265 for training and your first week as a CIT. Additional CIT weeks are $75 each.
WHERE: Tumalo State Park (64170 O. B. Riley Rd, Tumalo, OR 97703) in the Day Use area on the west side of O.B. Riley Road.
The SummerKids Junior Counselor program is designed to give teens practical work experience while still enjoying the fun traditions, songs and games of this unique youth experience. This summer program consists of 1 mandatory week of training, followed by at least 2 full service weeks at SummerKids. Service weeks are flexible, offered between July 7-August 11, and chosen by the participant during the registration process. Read the full internship description (PDF). An application (available through our registration portal) is required for those applying for this internship.
Interns build their resumes with these transferable skills:
DATES AND HOURS:
COST: No cost.
WHERE: At our SummerKids location, Bear Creek Elementary, 51 NE 13th St, Bend, OR 97702
Financial assistance is available for all of our programs. Thanks to grant support specific to teen engagement, we are able to offer a few select teen programs on a sliding scale basis. The full price reflects the true cost of the program. Please choose the highest amount you can afford on the sliding scale. Other teen programs follow our standard financial assistance process.
We strive to make all of our programs available to as many youth as possible, regardless of the ability to pay.
Because we schedule staff, invest in supplies, and plan for expenses based upon the number of youth we are expecting, we must adhere to our cancellation policies.
Most of our fee-based programs require a $10-25 non-refundable fee at registration (unless specifically noted in the program description).
Don't wait to register! High-quality youth programs are in high demand and Camp Fire programs are kept small to ensure a great adult:youth ratio and create the best learning experience possible. That means space is limited and many sessions sell out quickly. If the program is sold out, please add yourself to the waitlist.
Read about our registration policies, including making payments, our cancellation policy, and our refund policy.
Young people want to shape the world.
Camp Fire provides the opportunity to find their spark, lift their voice, and discover who they are.
In Camp Fire, it begins now.
