Photo courtesy City of Tamarac.
By: Sharon Aron Baron
The City of Tamarac is offering high school students a great opportunity to earn service hours while gaining personal satisfaction in helping others.
The Parks and Recreation department has created the “Tamarac Teen Summer Volunteer Program” for students ages 15 – 17 that will run Mondays through Thursdays from June 18, 2018 through August 10, 2018. There will be field trips each week, as well as educational time in which they will bring in a variety of people, or take the students off-site to learn about how different companies run.
Teens must be available 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. each day for the entire eight weeks of the program, with one week of vacation allowed with advance notice.
To graduate from high school, Broward County public students must earn 40 service hours, and those applying for Florida Bright Futures Scholarships must earn 100. To qualify for a silver cord at graduation, they will need 250 hours.
Interested students will need to fill out an application and include a copy of a current transcript, one letter of recommendation, have their parent’s signature on the application, and sign the teen volunteer pledge form. The total cost of the program is $299. This fee will cover field trips, classes, staff time and transportation costs. The fee will only apply to those who are accepted into the program. According to Greg Warner Director of Parks and Recreation, the city will not turn anyone away due to the inability to pay. If someone is interested, they can apply for a grant through the City or the Parks and Recreation Foundation.
If accepted, students will be placed in areas based on availability including assisting with the Senior Program, answering phones, working concessions at the pool, assisting with youth sports programs, or filing and other office responsibilities.
The application deadline is Friday, May 11, 2018. For an application email Charlene.Nevadomski@tamarac.org or 954-597-3648.