Leadership training

When Megan Bruns began thinking about looking for a job last summer, her mom suggested that she consider volunteering instead as a way to gain work experience.

"We started looking at options in my area and I thought Camp Friendship in Annandale seemed like it would be a good place to volunteer," said Bruns, 16, who lives nearby in Maple Lake, Minn.

Camp Friendship, one of several camps run by Friendship Ventures, offers residential camping experiences for children and adults with developmental and/or physical disabilities. Volunteers commit to one weeklong session and receive room and board at the camp's Volunteer House during their stay.

Bruns, a sophomore at Maple Lake High School, enjoyed her time as a volunteer at the camp, and was recently hired to be a counselor-in-training at Camp Friendship this summer.

"Before I started as a volunteer, I was kind of nervous because I didn't have experience working with people with disabilities, but I was also excited to be there," she said. "Now I know how much I love camp and I'm really looking forward to this summer."

Many benefits to teens

Volunteering or working at a summer camp helps teens in many ways. Not only does a leadership position look good on a college application or résumé, but it also helps teens build confidence, develop problem-solving skills and learn to work with people of many different ages and backgrounds.

Russell Link, executive director of Camp Olson, an independently chartered YMCA camp in Longville, said most of the teens, ages 13 to 17, who participate in Camp Olson's leadership development program have been coming to the camp for several years and are ready to move to the next level.

"Each teen has the opportunity to be a 'leader of the day' in their group, which means they make all the decisions," said Link. "This gives them the experience of peer leadership, which is exactly what they will experience in the workplace someday. They can learn from each other's leadership styles and develop an acceptance of other points of view."

Is your teen ready?

A good teen leader is open to working with a variety of people, said Maria Schugel, executive director for the Northland Section of the American Camp Association.

"It's someone who is a good communicator, who can be responsible and who can connect well with kids or other adults," she said.

Because volunteers are too busy to talk or text, cell phones are generally handed over to staff members -- which, Schugel said, seems to be more stressful for parents accustomed to connecting with their kids frequently during the day than it is for the teens themselves.

Spending time as a teen leader can also open unexpected doors. Megan Bruns said Camp Friendship is pointing her in a new direction.

"I used to think I might want to work in the medical field," she said. "After my experience at camp, I am definitely thinking about working with people with developmental disabilities."

Julie Pfitzinger is a West St. Paul freelance writer.