OPPORTUNITIES FOR growth and involvement

While many in-person programs have been canceled due to the world-wide pandemic, there are still many opportunities for students to be engaged over the summer and throughout the school year, from volunteering for the Red Cross to starting their own businesses to learning how to code. We have gathered some of the best options for students and grouped them below by theme. It shouldn’t take long to find at least one thing that appeals to you.

Remember, just because you might not be able to do the things you had planned to, that doesn’t mean you can’t find meaningful, purposeful activities to be involved in. Our character is revealed by what we choose to do with the unstructured time we have, so make the most of it!

General Interest:

Teen Life online/virtual summer programs - 43 current programs; application dates vary by program

For mathematicians, scientists, and budding engineers:

Pioneer Academics Research Program is a virtual research institute for outstanding high school students with the highest standards in selectivity and academic rigor. It is the world's only online credit-bearing research program for high school students, offering STEM, social sciences and humanities. In Pioneer's rigorous academic system, students work one-on-one with university professors in advanced study and research of a topic of their interest, culminating in a full-length research paper. Application deadline: April 26, 2020

Citizen Science helps several federal agencies advance projects through public crowdsourcing. The variety is astounding, and the offerings span the globe. Students can choose to be involved in a variety of projects from monitoring wildfires to doing marine biology research to helping with reforestation efforts. This is a wonderful way to get involved in global environmental efforts.

Zooinverse is the world’s largest and most popular platform for people-powered research. Zooinverse involves more than a million people around the world who come together to assist professional research that otherwise would not be possible, or practical, otherwise. There is no minimum time requirement and students can choose from fields in the arts, biology, history, and climate among many other options.

Horizon Academic is a trimester-long online research program for extraordinary high school students to refine their interest in an academic subject. Students will develop a college-level research project under the individualized guidance of a professor from a globally renowned university.

Summer STEM Institute SSI is a 6-week summer program that will run from June 21 to August 1, 2020. SSI consists of (1) a bootcamp that teaches students scientific literacy and data science, (2) a Masterclass series where experts from Stanford, Harvard, and other elite institutions share their advice for high school students, and (3) a personalized and mentored research project that students can submit to science competitions or write about on their college applications.

Benetech’s mission is to empower communities with software for social good in the areas of education, human rights, and poverty.

Code for Social Good: Changing the world, one project at a time. There are many great opportunities here, including the chance to work on an app to track the spread of Coronavirus. Coding has become more and more pertinent as the world becomes increasingly digital, so if you can code and want to improve that skill while contributing to the global community, this is a good place to start.

For those interested in the health professions:

Pharmacy Summer Institute for High School and College Students: The School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences 2020 Pharmacy Summer Institute is still scheduled to occur but will move to a virtual format with the schedule to be finalized in the coming months. The Pharmacy Summer Institute will be free for 2020. Applications are due June 1.

The Red Cross delivers vital services – from providing relief and support to those in crisis, to helping you be prepared to respond in emergencies. They also have a wide range of remote volunteer opportunities: search for “NHQ” or “virtual” in the search bar to find volunteer-from-home positions.

For readers, writers, and book-lovers:

jGirls Magazine invites self-identifying Jewish teenage girls ages 13-19 across the world to submit creative content (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, photography, music) on the subject of their choice to be considered for publication in their online magazine.

Great Books Summer Program: For over 19 years, GBSP has gathered exceptional middle and high school students from across the world. In this program, you will read, discuss, and debate selections from the greatest works of literature. Students experience college-level seminars, engage in lively discussion, and enjoy summer fun with other literary-minded students.

The Library of Congress is best known for having the largest book collection in the world. Through the By the People crowdsourcing campaign, they seek volunteers to transcribe, review, and tag digitized images of manuscripts and typed materials from the Library’s collections.

Project Gutenberg aims to provide free ebooks to the world. You can help Project Gutenberg by proofreading an eBook or by burning CDs and DVDs for people without Internet access,

Record books for the visually impaired with Learning Ally.

Enter online contests, such as the Americanism Essay Contest which awards a monetary prize for students in grades 7-12 for a winning essay.

Writing and making art in response to current events can be a powerful antidote to fear and uncertainty. Send your fiction or non-fiction pieces to one of the publications seeking new work via Submittable. Some of these organizations welcome visual art submissions as well.

Write for your local newspaper or submit op ed pieces about current events in your community.

For the polyglot:

Concordia Language Villages During the 4 week online program, students will experience “live” language learning and cultural immersion with their Village staff, many of whom will be teaching directly from the Villages and bringing the program to homes across the country. Participants will be fully immersed in creative and fun ways within small cohorts. Students will receive a full year of language credits upon the successful completion of this program.

Translators Without Borders offers language and translation support for global humanitarian and development agencies. They need volunteers who are fluent in at least one language other than English to translate words for medical texts or for crisis response.

For those who like to teach:

UPchieve is a free, online platform that connects low-income high school students in the US with live, volunteer coaches (that’s you!) any time they need it. You could make the difference in another student’s education this year by connecting with them and taking the time to help with their school work! The volunteer experience is ultra-flexible so you can help students from anywhere with an internet connection.

Through VipKid, teach English as a second language to students from China. These courses are full English immersion, so there is no need to be able to speak a second language. Set your own hours and get paid!

For the politically active:

Lead a voter registration drive

Contact your local Democratic or Republican campaign offices for “at home” contributions, such as stuffing mailers, calling voters or creating a “virtual” campaign.

Volunteer to increase voter turnout through organizations such as Rock the Vote, which offers opportunities that can be done remotely, and Postcards to Voters, which can be written from home.

For those who want to help others:

Catchafire matches skilled volunteers with nonprofits whose missions they are passionate about to help increase their capacity and achieve their missions. Current projects include designing a logo for the Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park, brainstorming the beginnings of a podcast series with a theatre company, and helping with social media efforts.

Be My Eyes is a free mobile app with one main goal: to make the world more accessible for blind and low-vision people. The app connects blind and low-vision individuals with sighted volunteers from all over the world via video-call to provide assistance in everyday tasks (like reading ingredients, checking expiration dates, and helping someone navigate new surroundings) that are made difficult because of impaired vision.

Missing Maps is an open, collaborative project in which you can help to map areas where humanitarian organizations are trying to meet the needs of parts of the world that are vulnerable to natural disasters, conflicts, and disease epidemics.

Amnesty International strives to combat human rights violations around the world. As an Amnesty Decoder, students use their smartphones and computer to sort through images and documents to expose human rights violations.

The Smithsonian seeks to engage the public in making their collections more accessible through digital technology. Citizen Scholars are invited to transcribe historic documents including diaries and working papers of prominent Americans and records associated with the Smithsonian's vast scientific collections. They also seek Digital Volunteers to assist in contributing content to Wikipedia related to our collections and areas of expertise.

For the creatively inclined:

Develop a virtual team to compete in next year’s Vans Custom Culture for the chance to win $50,000 for your school’s art program.

Create a photojournalism project to highlight your creativity and unique perspectives

Create a virtual open mic night or concert so performing artists can showcase their talents.

Share your music, dance or theater performances for audiences through an online platform like Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook Live or YouTube.

Develop your own website and showcase your works of art.

Research Your Family History: Use one of the many platforms to delve into your family background and supplement your online research with interviews with family members and friends to learn about your family history. Create a movie or book to consolidate your results.

Help stop the Spread of COVID-19 by making and donating protective masks by using a 3D printer, sewing machine, or just some spare fabric and a needle and thread.

For the athlete:

Set up a training program and compete against your school team or friends. Track your runs on Nike Run Club and share your progress or challenge your friends to a week long Move Challenge using the Activity App!

If you’re looking for more structure for your fitness routine, many apps offer online fitness classes that vary in level and length. Some options include:

Centr, where you can train like Thor himself! They are offering 6 weeks free if you download the app. Chris Hemsworth designed this program with his trainer to provide high-power workouts. It also has access to meal plans if you are hoping to add more vegetables to your diet this summer, and even added meditation classes to help promote a healthy mental state.

Planet Fitness is providing at-home workouts every day at 7pm EST. These workouts are accessible to beginners as well as gym rats, and can be done in limited space without any equipment.

Peloton has extended its free trial period to 90 days! They offer a wide range of classes from guided runs, spin classes, bootcamps, strength work, and even yoga and meditation.

Finally, YouTube has plenty of workouts you can find just by searching the criteria you are interested in. Searches ranging from the general “30 minute HIIT workout” to a sport specific search, like “20 minute soccer footwork” will turn up pages of results for you to try. Best of all, they’re all free.

For those with an entrepreneurial spirit:

Test your market knowledge through Wharton’s KWHS Virtual Portfolio Management Competition.

Start a neighborhood business like dog walking, lawn mowing, pool cleaning, and yard clean up which can be done at a safe distance from others.

For the scholar – online classes:

AI Scholars Live Online is a 10 session (25-hour) program that exposes high school students to fundamental AI concepts and guides them to build a socially impactful project. Students receive a personalized learning experience in small groups with a student-teacher ratio of 4:1.

Summer Institute for the Gifted

Cornell Pre-College Summer Programs

UCLA Summer Sessions

Harvard Summer School

OutSchool

Boston University Pre-College Summer Programs

Georgetown University High School Summer Sessions

Wake Forest Online Immersion Program

Brown Pre-College Summer Program

UPenn Pre-College Summer Program

Summer STEM Institute

The Iowa Young Writers' Studio