I’ll put in a big plug for volunteering at the local library. Our library system has a volunteer program and the whole experience worked out wonderfully! While it would have been nice to find a paying job for a 15 year old, the branch was close enough that he could ride his bike so we didn’t have to worry about transportation and related expenses. Having this job made him get up every morning, get himself to and fro on time, work with adults as colleagues, learn a variety of chores/responsibilities, and add a nice item to his resume. Best of all, he really enjoyed it. Good luck in your search.
@doschicos , they sound pretty great to me too!
When I was a teen, lifeguarding required a lot more than a weekend of training.
When I was a kid, one of my favorite books was about a family that had a tradition at their summer cottage that everyone had a summer project. They spent their mornings after breakfast and before lunch on it. One kid grew vegetables and sold them. One learned a foreign language. One wrote a book. I thought it was a pretty cool family tradition. Not saying this solves the OP’s issue, but this discussion reminded me of it.
When my D2 was that age, she got pretty into insect collecting. She mounted 'em and entered them in the county fair. She also monitored a bluebird trail at our community center.
Actually, @intparent, one thing kid does want to do is teach herself American Sign Language, and take an online linguistics course (free through Coursera). Which is great … but I think she needs to get out of the house at least a few days a week.
Kid is talking with her advisor at BS to see if there are internships or other resources. BS is 3 hours away, so I’m not sure if anything will work out, but it may give kid some ideas. There’s also a possible volunteer opportunity cooking here as well.
Our daughter was able to volunteer/intern at local nonprofit orgs in the summer at that age - one LBGTQ group and one peace related group she found by googling. She gained good office type work experience and better insights into her pet causes that was useful back at BS. Animal shelters also utilize a lot of volunteers at a younger age if that interests your DD. (At 16 there are more for pay options)
We are struggling too. It seems even many volunteer opportunities require you to be 16.