C5 Texas Signature Summer Experiences

C5 Texas provides youth grades 8th-12th with exciting summer experiences focused on the 5 C's of our program, character-driven, community-focused, challenge-ready, college and career bound and committed to a better future.

Camp Leadership U- Rising eighth graders begin the first year of the C5 program with three weeks at summer camp, where they learn more about themselves while participating in outdoor adventure activities designed to teach them essential lift and leadership skills. Hiking, swimming, archery, and rope courses keep our teen active outdoors; leadership training, social awareness programs, journaling and public speaking take them far beyond the typical camp activities.

Camp Leadership U2- As our Leaders-in-training prepare for the ninth grade, the second year of the C5 program builds on the first and emphasize ongoing relationships with staff and peers. Our teens return to summer camp for three weeks, using their newly discovered skills to plan an off-site trip and to begin providing leadership for camp activities.

C5 Bridges- During the summer before tenth grade, participants are challenged to demonstrate their leadership skills as they finalize planning and preparation for a 7-day back-country leadership adventure. In partnership with NOLS, this trip-- to a wilderness location such as the Grand Teton-- provides real challenges and real consequences as campers make decisions, solve problems, and learn to work together effectively.

Road to College- Prior to their junior year in high school, these young adults move away from the outdoor camp experience and explore choices for post-secondary education and career opportunities. They embark on an 8-10 day college campus tour that takes them to regional schools and allows them to get a taste of what college life will be like. Along the way, they engage in a volunteer service project and executive lunch and learns in one or more of the communities they visit.

ACT Now Summit- In the final year, participants engage in a week-long community leadership experience designed to help them understand how decisions are made and how needs are met in the communities where they live. Teens have the opportunity to meet the people who are making a difference in their home communities and think beyond community service to community advocacy. At the end of the weeks, they develop a multimedia presentation about their experiences and share it with younger students.