For many youth, summer vacation is a time to relax, sleep in, or find work. Local teens from the Berwyn and Cicero area however have a different notion about how to stay active, learn new skills and give back to their communities in meaningful ways.

Beginning in June, thirteen high school teenagers involved with the Youth Crossroads, Inc. (YC) leadership program will be spending the first week of summer vacation volunteering at the Lakota Sioux Reservation in Eagle Butte, South Dakota. There the teens and their YC staff supervisors will be assisting with home repairs, community center construction projects and tutoring Native American children. The teens have been researching, planning and fundraising for this out-of-state service trip since March.

Between mid-June and early August, nearly thirty more teen leaders will serve four days each week as tutors, mentors and group leaders for a YC summer school program at the LaVergne Education Center in Berwyn that will assist local 6th-8th graders with academics, social skills development, arts and recreational activities as well as many out-of-town educational field trips. Each teen leader volunteers nearly 100 hours to the YC summer school program.

Anyone looking for more information about YC, their youth leadership programs, or to make a donation towards local youth projects, is asked to contact Joel W. at (708) 484-9650 or visit www.youthcrossroads.org.