For those with 12 and 13 year old teens with "nothing to do", the Air Cadets are having an open house Friday, September 10th at 6:30 PM at the Armoury on 11th and Victoria.
There is no commitment to joining the military when they turn 18 or anything like that. It is a wonderful organization that has fun Sports evenings, character building Survival Weekends, exciting Toboggan parties, Rifle practice and other activities while learning about Canadian history and self discipline.
The uniform is supplied including the boots and socks. If the cadet is selected for a summer training camp, all transportation costs are covered.
I wrote a blog about it:
http://www.ebrandon.ca/blog.aspx?blog_id=1731
Although I am biased in favour of the Air Cadets, if you own a sail boat, getting your teen into Sea Cadets would also be a worthwhile option for you to check out. The Army Cadets have a similar program for those that are interested in big guns. There is a new Police Cadet program through the Dakota Ojibway. St Johns Ambulance have special programs for teens as well.
A cadet with a couple of years of experience is more likely to be offered employment when they turn 15 or 16. If your teen is thinking about future employment, this would be an excellent program to add to their resume. But it has to start when they are 12 or 13 and not two weeks before they apply for that job at age 16. They even offer summer jobs to those that qualify. Would they like to earn $60+ per day during the summer? The training starts on Friday.
If you can not make it to the open house tonight, they meet every Friday at 6:30 at the Armoury. Drop in and check it out.