• COSMOS (California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science) at the University of California, San Diego is an outstanding 4-week residential summer program open to entering ninth through exiting twelfth-grade high school students with demonstrated interest and achievement in math and science. Full financial aid is available. About one-third of the attendees receive full fee waivers. No qualified applicant will be denied due to lack of financial resources. For information see http://www.jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/cosmos/. The application filing period is Feb. 1 to Mar. 1 for the July 8- Aug. 4, 2012 program.
• Early Academic Planning (EAP) Camp at San Jose State University--May 15, 2011 application deadline for this FREE 3-day residential program for foster youth. For more information, see  http://www.sjsu.edu/cmesociety/.
• Get a summer job! PET (Pre-Emplyoment Training) is back for 2011! PET is a traineeship that give foster youth, ages 13-15, an opportunity to develop employment "soft skills" (e.g. punctuality, appropriate workplace appearance, positive interaction with supervisor and co-workers, taking initiative, etc.) while on site with an employer in the community. Youth must be willing to commit 4 or 5 hours a day, Monday through Friday, for 4 weeks in July-early August. Caregiver must transport youth to job site or youth must be able to take public transportation. Successful youth may earn a stipend of up to $200 at the end of the experience. For more information or to make a youth referral, contact Violeta Mora at 858-503-2625 or viomora@sdcoe.net.  
• Native American youth: College Horizon summer camps are a wonderful opportunity to prepare for higher education. See www.collegehorizons.org for more information about their pre-college programs for 10th and 11th grade Native students. Application deadline is February 1 for the following summer.
• Native American youth: 2011 Gathering of the Tribes Summer Residential Program, University of California Riverside. 7-day program for middle school and high school students from June 19-26. See www.nasp.ucr.edu and click on "programs".
• Improve your math and English skills the summer following 9th, 10th, or 11th grade. Go to the websites created by the CSU to better prepare you for college-level work: www.csumathsuccess.org and www.csuenglishsuccesss.org.

There are many ways to use your summer vacation time productively. If you can't attend a program, such as one listed on this page, or find employment, here are a dozen other ideas:

1. see how many books you can read--perhaps by one author--maybe Jane Austen or John Steinbeck or Barbara Kingsolver or Ernest Hemingway
2. visit www.dosomething.org and discover what you can do to make a difference 
3. volunteer--at your local library or senior center or at your church, mosque, synagogue or other place of worship
4. tutor someone
5. learn a musical instrument
6. take a class at your local community college
7. join or organize a book club
8. see how many poems of Emily Dickinson you can read--try your hand at writing poetry
9. take a class for fun--hip hop or painting or something that appeals to you
10. train to run a 5K or 10K--organize friends to join you. Consider raising funds for a cause you believe in
11. begin a journal--if you enjoy writing, think about what you can do during the school year to keep it up--is there a newspaper or yearbook staff to join?
12. learn CPR