Almost every parent of a middle schooler I talk to has the same question: what should my kid be doing over the summer? Should they take a class? Volunteer? Start preparing for high school? Is twelve too early to be thinking about college?

College can come up naturally at this age, but a twelve-year-old's interests are going to change. What they love now may look completely different by ninth grade, change again by twelfth, and keep evolving in college.

At this age, I care most about two things: confidence and curiosity.

Confidence comes from doing something new and a little uncomfortable. Joining a program without knowing anyone. Trying rock climbing. Performing in front of a group. Volunteering somewhere unfamiliar.

A kid who works through that initial discomfort enters eighth grade knowing they can walk into a new situation and figure it out. That feeling carries. They speak up sooner. They recover faster when something goes wrong. They become more willing to try things they may not be immediately good at.

Those are difficult skills to teach in a classroom, and summer gives kids the space to build them.

Curiosity needs that same space. Kids grow into curious teenagers when they have time to follow something simply because it caught their attention. They read more about it, ask questions, and see where it goes. Nobody needs to explain how it will look on an application yet.

Eventually, that curiosity becomes self-direction. The student starts finding opportunities on their own, emailing someone whose work interests them, building a project, or digging deeper into a subject outside of school.

By the time college applications come around, they have real experiences to talk about because they have spent years learning how to follow an interest.

In New York City, those opportunities are everywhere. A speaker at the 92nd Street Y. A teen program at the Met or the Whitney. A volunteer opportunity that puts them in a room with people doing work they have never seen up close. Something that costs nothing more than an afternoon and sends them home with a question they did not have before.

Confidence and curiosity will matter when admissions becomes part of the conversation. Schools want students who have done things, formed opinions, and can talk comfortably about what interests them. A high school admissions interview picks up on those qualities quickly.

This summer, give your kid room to try something and see where it goes. Some interests will disappear by September. Others might stick much longer than anyone expected.🗓️

Deadline: registration is open now for the 2026 to 2027 season; free for students, though a few regions charge a small school registration fee

Future City gives students one big challenge: imagine, research, design, and build a city at least 100 years in the future that solves a real problem. This year’s theme is Fire Resilient Future, so teams have to create a city that can prevent, withstand, and recover from urban wildfires. Students work together with an adult educator or mentor, build a physical model, write an essay, and defend their choices in front of judges at a regional competition during the winter. The winners move on to the national finals in Washington. The middle school competition is for grades 6 to 8, with a separate track for grades 9 to 12. I’ve led students in this competition personally. It is great! Four months spent going deep on one complex question- how to build resilient cities. This year, a student learns how wildfires behave, turns that research into a city plan, and then has to explain why their ideas would work. That is a serious project with a clear finished product. Check your local region before committing because competition dates and school fees vary. Learn more and register →

Deadline: Registration opens August 12, 2026, and team registration closes February 24, 2027;

eCYBERMISSION starts with a problem students can actually see in their own community. Teams of two to four, led by an adult Team Advisor, choose an issue in their neighborhood and either investigate it through science or work toward a solution through engineering. They submit the entire project in an online Mission Folder by March 3, 2027. Every team receives written feedback, and students can talk with volunteer scientists and engineers through live chats while they work. State, regional, and national winners receive savings bonds. Rising 6th through 9th graders can enter for free. The written feedback may be the best part. A 7th grader can choose a problem from their own block, spend the winter working through it, and get actual notes from a scientist or engineer. That kind of outside feedback can completely change how a student sees their own work. Registration opens in two weeks, so now is a good time to find an advisor and start talking about possible teammates. Learn more and enter →

Deadline: interest form open now for the fall session, September 14 to December 10, 2026; no fee listed on the program page

Rocking the Boat runs an after-school program in Hunts Point where 6th through 8th graders build wooden boats, sail on the Bronx River, and study the river through hands-on science. Students learn carpentry using hand and power tools, sail traditional wooden boats and dinghies, and learn how to read wind direction and points of sail. They also identify local bird species, test the water quality, and fish to find out what actually lives in the river. The fall session meets two afternoons a week at 812 Edgewater Road, within walking distance of the 6 train at Hunts Point Avenue. Eighth graders receive priority when applying to the organization’s high school programs. The students are working together to build a boat that will eventually go into the water, which gives the program a clear purpose from the beginning. A 6th grader who starts here can stay involved through 12th grade, moving from model hulls into the high school crew and continuing to collect real data from the river. Learn more and apply →

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