Summer learning opportunities

Introduction

Summer vacation can be a wonderful time for students to relax and rejuvenate, but it can also be a valuable opportunity for continued learning in enjoyable and engaging ways. Here are several ideas and resources for middle school and high school students to make the most of their summer break while still enriching their minds. Discover various projects, games, simulations, reading, travel, and hands-on opportunities.

Project-based learning: Encourage students to embark on a summer-long project aligned with their own interests and passions. This could include starting a garden and documenting the growth process, building a model rocket or solar-powered car, creating a short film or podcast series, writing a story, or designing a website to showcase their original artwork or writing.

Educational games and simulations: There are plenty of educational games and simulations that make learning interactive and fun. Platforms like Khan Academy, Quizlet, and Prodigy offer a wide range of subjects and activities tailored to different age groups. Additionally, exploring historical simulations like Civilization or scientific simulations like Universe Sandbox can provide immersive learning experiences.

Summer reading challenges: Organize a summer reading challenge where students set goals to read a certain number of books or explore specific genres or authors. Provide reading lists tailored to different interests and reading levels, and incorporate discussions or creative projects based on the books read. Consider partnering with local libraries or bookstores to enhance access to reading materials.

Travel and cultural immersion: Encourage students to explore new places and cultures, whether through local day trips, camping adventures, or, if feasible, national or even international travel. Encourage them to keep travel journals, learn about the history and culture of the places they visit, and engage with locals to gain firsthand insights. Virtual travel experiences can also be valuable alternatives, allowing students to explore museums, landmarks, and cultural sites from the comfort of home.

Hands-on STEM activities: Engage students in hands-on STEM activities that foster creativity and problem-solving skills. This could involve conducting science experiments, building robots or circuitry projects, exploring coding and programming languages, or participating in maker workshops where they can design and create prototypes of their inventions.

Community service and volunteer work: Encourage students to give back to their communities through volunteer work and community service projects. This could involve participating in local clean-up efforts, volunteering at animal shelters or food banks, or organizing fundraisers for causes they care about. Not only does this foster a sense of social responsibility, but it also provides opportunities for personal growth and leadership development.

Online courses and workshops: Explore online learning platforms that offer courses and workshops on a wide range of subjects, from academic subjects like math and history to creative pursuits like photography and graphic design. Websites like Coursera, Udemy, and Skillshare offer courses taught by experts in their fields, allowing students to explore new interests and skills at their own pace.

Conclusion

By offering a diverse variety of opportunities for learning and exploration, students can make the most of their summer break while still having fun and preparing themselves for the academic year ahead. Encouraging curiosity, creativity, and a love of learning can make summer vacation a time of growth and enrichment for students of all ages.

Reinvent your professional journey

Image: Freepik

Comprehensive Guide to Reinventing Your Professional Journey

In today's rapidly evolving job market, the necessity to continually refresh and revitalize your career trajectory cannot be overstated. This guide from Mr. Robertson's Corner is designed to illuminate the path to injecting new vigor into your professional endeavors, ensuring that you not only stay ahead of the curve but also unlock new avenues for opportunity and growth.

Professional Development through Workshops

At the heart of staying relevant in any field is the commitment to enhancing your skills. Participating in workshops and training sessions represents a critical investment in your professional growth. These opportunities allow you to immerse yourself in the latest industry trends, technologies, and methodologies, solidifying your status as an indispensable team member. Beyond skill acquisition, these forums serve as vital networking platforms, connecting you with like-minded professionals and industry leaders, thereby reinforcing your dedication to both personal and professional development.

Tailoring Your Resume for Each Application

Customizing your resume for each job application is the best solution to demonstrate your attention to detail and the skills and experience you bring to the table. By aligning your achievements with the employer's specific needs, you make your application stand out. This strategy shows you've done your homework and directly addresses what the hiring manager is looking for. Consequently, your resume's impact is significantly amplified, making you a more attractive candidate.

Leveraging Mentorship

The journey through your career landscape is markedly smoother with the guidance of a seasoned mentor or coach. These experts bring to the table a wealth of knowledge encompassing workplace navigation and strategic career planning. Their unbiased insights can spotlight growth opportunities and help sidestep common obstacles, making mentorship an indispensable mechanism for broadening your professional network and gaining access to wisdom beyond conventional learning resources.

Expanding Horizons with Additional Projects

An effective method to distinguish yourself within your current role is to embrace new projects and responsibilities. This proactive stance not only enriches your professional repertoire but also underscores your initiative and versatility. Engaging in tasks outside your usual scope can catalyze significant personal and career development, enhancing your appeal for prospective advancements and elevating your professional profile.

Broadening Skills through Lateral Moves

Exploring lateral opportunities within your organization can unveil a breadth of learning and experience. Such moves enable you to delve into varied roles, departments, or sectors without the risks associated with starting anew. Embracing this strategy enriches your skill set, offering a comprehensive understanding of the business from multiple perspectives, and equipping you for more adaptive and informed leadership in the future.

Enriching Your Career through Volunteering

Committing to volunteer or pro bono initiatives allows you to apply your professional skills in novel contexts, benefiting both societal causes and your career. This engagement showcases your commitment to making a difference and your willingness to extend your impact beyond the workplace. These experiences not only diversify your professional background but also open the door to new career opportunities, reflecting a well-rounded and socially responsible professional ethos.

Gaining Perspective with a Sabbatical

Opting for a sabbatical presents a unique chance to rejuvenate, pursue personal interests, or develop new skills, offering a fresh outlook on your career and life. This period of reflection and exploration can lead to profound insights into your professional desires and aspirations, contributing to enhanced job satisfaction and effectiveness upon your return.

Conclusion

Embarking on a journey to rejuvenate your career is an endeavor that requires thoughtful strategy and active participation. By embracing key tactics like finding a mentor and tailoring your resume, you position yourself for sustained professional growth, competitiveness, and success. Begin today to take deliberate steps towards revitalizing your career path, ready to seize the exciting opportunities that await, and embark on a rewarding and prosperous professional trajectory.

Use summer vacation to learn new skills

How high school students can make the most of their summer vacations to learn new skills, build on existing ones, and explore possible career paths and industries that may interest them.

Introduction

As summer approaches, it’s time for high school students to start thinking about how they can make the most of their summer vacation. Summer is a great opportunity to gain practical life and career skills while exploring new interests and having fun in the process. Let’s take a look at some examples of summer jobs and experiences that can benefit high school students.

Volunteer work

Volunteering is an excellent way for students to give back to their communities while also developing important skills such as leadership, problem-solving, and communication. Volunteering also helps students learn more about themselves, build relationships with peers, and develop empathy for others. Plus, volunteer work looks good on college applications!

Summer camps

Attending summer camps is a great way for high schoolers to explore new hobbies or refine existing ones. From art camps to sports camps, there are tons of options available for teens looking to have fun while learning something new. Not only can these activities help teens discover hidden passions, but they can also help them build friendships and get out of their comfort zones.

Internships/Apprenticeships

An internship or apprenticeship provides high schoolers with hands-on experience in a professional setting while giving them an opportunity to learn from industry professionals. Internships offer insight into potential career paths and industries that may be unfamiliar to students - all while allowing them to hone their interpersonal skills as well as their technical knowledge.

Conclusion

All these experiences offer unique opportunities for high schoolers to grow both personally and professionally during the summer months. Whether it’s volunteering in your community or attending a specialized camp, there are numerous ways for teenagers to make the most out of their summer break by gaining valuable life experiences that will serve them well into adulthood. So if you’re looking for ways your child can make this summer count, consider any one of these options!

A trip to the Wisconsin Lions Eye Bank

Several months ago, I took advantage of a wonderful opportunity to tour the Wisconsin Lions Eye Bank located in Madison, Wisconsin. I'm a member of the Muskego Lions Club, and our club's current co-presidents arranged for a bus trip there.

You may have heard of Lions clubs. They are community service clubs made up of volunteers from all walks of life who do amazing work in the communities they serve. Perhaps your hometown has one. Depending on the size of your town, you may have more than one. Maybe you have relatives or family friends that are members of a Lions club.

Anyways, one of the main things Lions as a whole worldwide is known for is its incredible charitable work having to do with eyesight. Many local clubs, like our club here in Muskego, conduct free vision screenings in schools to help identify challenges students have or may eventually face so that they can get the corrective help that they need (like further testing, prescription eyeglasses, and so on). Many local clubs also participate in a program that collects used eyeglasses. The glasses are shipped off to facilities where they are cleaned, repaired, and processed, and from there sent to countries around the world, where they are given to people who otherwise can't afford to buy eyeglasses. We're proud to participate in this program, as well.

But it's the network of eye banks that the Lions run that is perhaps the most fascinating and awe-inspiring component of its overall efforts to the cause of sight. The Wisconsin eye bank is just one of many such banks operated and funded by Lions.

In short, the Lions eye bank works with a number of hospitals, funeral homes, and other community partners and resources to collect eye tissue from those who have sadly passed on and expressed the desire to be donors. Because eye tissue must be quickly harvested from the deceased and then quickly transplanted into a recipient, an extensive network of volunteers is always on call, ready to go at a moment's notice, to transport donated tissue to where it needs to go. Many of the clubs in the state, like the Muskego Lions Club, take turns every month or every several weeks to wait on standby. You never know when a call is going to come in, and volunteers must be willing and ready to travel in the middle of the night, if necessary.

Touring the Wisconsin Lions Eye Bank, for me, was an incredible experience. It served as an uplifting reminder of just how many good people there are in the world, and it's a testament to the power of volunteer work; of really making a difference in the lives of others. When people from all walks of life come together with their minds and talents, anything is truly possible. 

Voluntourism

Voluntourism: Making the world a better place one trip at a time

Voluntourism is a popular form of international travel that combines the good intentions and the many benefits of volunteering with the excitement of tourism. Aimed at those looking to make a positive change in the world, voluntourism provides a safe and easy way for tourists to help others in developing or devastated communities around the world, without the typical time commitments seen in more traditional forms of international volunteering.

To help keep costs at a minimum, voluntourists often live with host families while staying in their selected region. Such arrangements are mutually beneficial. Not only is the local community rewarded by the efforts of generous volunteers, but the volunteers themselves are rewarded by being directly immersed into the local culture, giving them a perspective and meaningful opportunities to reflect not easily seen from the vantage point of a standard tourist.

Reaching all areas of the globe, voluntourism spans countless interests including archeology, building, care, conservation, farming, sports, and teaching. Various programs focusing on interests such as these are then tailored to each volunteer's age, schedule, and level of commitment. Business voluntourism is also becoming popular and can be great for team building, public relations, and employee morale.

For youths interested in voluntourism, programs are available for high school -aged individuals through several organizations over the summer months. There are also spring break and gap year voluntourism opportunities aimed at college-aged individuals looking to make a difference. Not only does participation in such programs leave many youths with a new perspective on the world, it can also make for an interesting addition to the participants' college applications and resumes.

Before finalizing any voluntourism plans, it's important that you research a number of different voluntourism organizations, as not all offer the same options or experiences. It's also worth noting that in some cases, the organization may help subsidize costs like airfare, insurance, and personal allowances, while in other cases, it's the volunteers who must cover the full cost of the trip.

So, if you want to see the world while doing something meaningful with your life, it's time to give the idea of voluntourism some real consideration. By becoming a voluntourist, you can build lasting friendships, have rewarding experiences, and make a real difference in the lives of those living in developing or devastated communities around the world.

Learning over winter break

As we begin winter break (or recently began it) for both high school and college students, I want to challenge you to take advantage of this time to continue learning and expanding that wonderful gift you have - your mind. I don't necessarily mean school work, although high school students may have some actual school work to take home and complete during their break. College students, on the other hand, will usually be between semesters with no school work.

The kind of learning I'm primarily talking about here is learning that will help you in identifying and selecting potential career and college tracks that you may be interested in pursuing.

Use a good portion of your break time to reflect and figure some of these things out. It will certainly be to your advantage. What are your hobbies and interests? What have you done so far for volunteer work, or what would you like to do for volunteer work? Is there anyone you can start networking with? Do you already have a basic resume ready to go, or do you need to work on that still? If you're still in high school, have you started exploring any formal post- high school training and education you may want or need to obtain?

Take advantage of this time. Don't squander it. Check out this page of career readiness resources for more ideas and inspiration.

The many benefits of volunteer work

By now, you're familiar with the concept of volunteer work. Perhaps you've already done volunteer work of some kind, or are currently doing it. And at your age, you have very little, if any, paid work experience to put on your resume and job applications, so things like volunteer service, co-curricular activities such as sports and clubs, and student leadership positions are going to comprise the bulk of your resume.

Volunteer work can provide a wealth of opportunities for learning new skills, strengthening skills, making meaningful connections through networking, gaining new perspectives, sharing talents, and making a difference in the lives of others.

I've been volunteering my time and expertise for a number of organizations and causes over the years, and I find great satisfaction in doing so. Whether through community service clubs like Lions, Rotary, and Kiwanis; as a board member of two chambers of commerce; as a member of two local government boards; or as a member of a committee that runs a large weekend-long festival every summer in my hometown, Muskego Fest, I've met so many talented and wonderful people, and I've learned so much, and continue to learn and meet great people.

I've also found that my volunteer work really goes hand-in-hand with the work I do for pay. I look at it like a continuous cycle, where everything comes back around full-circle - my volunteer work enhances my abilities for other volunteer work; my volunteer work enhances my abilities for my paid work; and my paid work enhances my abilities for my volunteer work. See, all too often, to get a little philosophical here for a moment, we tend to distinguish between volunteer work and paid work, or between personal development and professional development, as if they're all separate and disconnected from one another. In the end, however, we each possess just one mind, and it's a single, fully-unified unit. It's very vast and complex, but it's all connected through countless bridges, roads, and tunnels. In terms of the mind, work is work. Experience is experience. Learning is learning. Skills and talents are skills and talents. You get the point. There's definitely an interdependence between volunteer and paid work, where all of this learning and skill development is easily transferable to other jobs and situations. End of philosophical moment.



Areas where I've developed and reinforced skills over the years through a plethora of volunteer work and projects include leadership, negotiation, marketing, event planning and management, fundraising, customer service, strategic planning, basic accounting and bookkeeping, idea generation, presentations, and public relations and communications. 

So, we know that volunteer work is great for your resume, for preparing for the workforce, and for continuing to build and strengthen your talents throughout your life while meeting awesome people and making a difference in your community and beyond. Many scholarship and college admission applications are looking for meaningful volunteering experiences, as well. But you're asking, "Where do I start?"

Well, for starters, ask yourself what you'd like to get out of it. And really give this some thought. Put it on paper so that you have something concrete to look at, reflect on, and refine as needed. And then, go out and seek those opportunities.

Ideally, when it comes to paid work, we all want to do something that's meaningful and engaging to us, right? Something that's enjoyable for us and gives us a feeling that we're making a difference. Now sure, we all take or have taken paid jobs not living up to that ideal out of necessity at times, let's be realistic. But you get the picture. Well, the same goes with volunteer work. We want it to be meaningful for us. Something that's of interest to us and enjoyable. Something that can complement and enhance our professional and career goals. We know the work won't always be easy, but in the end, we know we're learning and growing while sharing our gifts with others and making key contacts.



So start by asking yourself what you'd like to get out of it. Here are some example scenarios to get you thinking about your own goals:

Let's say you'd like to eventually become a veterinarian. You're taking as many science courses as you can right now at the high school level. You're exploring college programs for veterinarian science. Are there any animal shelters or kennels in your area that you can volunteer for? How about a local veterinarian clinic? Or, let's say you're wanting to become a nurse or doctor. You're taking those science classes and exploring your college options. Any clinics or hospitals you can volunteer at?

You love sports. Can't get enough. You're thinking about sports management or sports marketing as a career. You're loading up on any relevant business courses you can fit into your schedule. Maybe you're taking a few English electives to augment the business classes because creative messaging, writing, and the overall ability to communicate effectively to an audience will be key. Are there any volunteer opportunities with your school's teams or athletic department? How about any local professional or minor league teams? Your community's parks and recreation department?

The trades are your thing. Maybe you're still figuring out which trade you'd really like to pursue. You're taking a variety of shop classes. Learning math. Any volunteer opportunities with Habitat for Humanity? How about your local National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) chapter? Any contractors in your area looking for help? Maybe they can help open the door to paid apprenticeships and give you some additional guidance on courses to take at your local technical college?

You're thinking about a career in law enforcement. Joining your local police explorers program is a great way to get involved in community service, network, learn about the profession, and figure out if this is a career you'd really like to pursue. In my hometown of Muskego, our Explorers regularly assist other community service clubs with projects and events around town, and we're grateful for their help! Call your local police department to see if there's an explorers program in your community and how you can get involved.

Business is your passion. You're stocking up on as many business courses as you can. Maybe you have one or more entrepreneurial ventures going for you, like your own lawn mowing or car detailing business. Perhaps you're involved in DECA, FBLA, or a similar club at your school. You're exploring business and management programs at the college level. How about calling your local chamber of commerce to see if they're in need of any volunteers? If the chamber is not in need of any volunteers itself, perhaps it can put you in touch with any of its member businesses and organizations that are looking for help? 

These are just a few basic examples out of an endless number of possibilities to get you thinking and exploring. You may find this article from U.S. News & World Report, Find Career-Focused Volunteer Opportunities in High School, helpful, as well.

Best of luck!