Teens on Fire is an extension of Campfire New Jersey. It offers peer counseling as well as volunteer opportunities. Teens on Fire is a student-run organization and a good way to meet new people, make friends, and get involved with one’s community. They offer team building activities outside of school such as scavenger hunts and bonfires. The club also offers many opportunities for students to volunteer and give back to their community while allowing students to create long-lasting friendships and connections within the area.

The program is involved with many other organizations, such as the Robert Wood Johnson Cancer center, that are in need of volunteers.The youth-led activities allow students to create leadership skills in a safe and welcoming environment that can help propel and prepare kids for future working experiences. The Teens on Fire program was halted over remote learning, but Miss Meara has been able to help integrate this program back into Steinert after COVID with the help of Addison Corby. Through running both the self-contained special education class and the Teens on Fire program, Miss Meara is helping her students by offering them a myriad of activities that were out of reach before. As a result, it enabled her special ed students to reach out into the community and form relationships that would’ve otherwise been difficult to make. To her, Teens on Fire has made it easier for her special ed students to branch out and make new friends when they didn’t have the opportunity to do so during school. Making new friends is a perk, but the main goal of TOF is to help people in need. 

Christmas on East Franklin Street was a holiday themed event where anyone who wanted to celebrate but couldn’t at home was able to attend for free. Every kid who attended was able to take a book home, which were collected in the Steinert High School book drive. The goal was that any child who didn’t have Christmas presents at home could get a gift of their own. This was Christmas on East Franklin Street’s second annual event and this year, they were more focused on getting teens involved in it as much as possible. With the help of Addison Corby, they were able to make sure anyone who volunteered had a job to do during the event, “This year we had about 40 teen volunteers and we made it a priority to make sure every teen had a job and was actively involved at their station”. TOF is starting the new year with more volunteering opportunities for students and they are currently doing a winter drive for TASK. Students can bring in different clothing items for winter like jackets, scarves, gloves, and hats. The program is always open for new members and Miss Meara and Addison Corby are open to questions through email. Kelly and Jess Nitty are heavily involved in CampFire New Jersey and could also answer questions involving the Teens on Fire program. You can also find information on the Google classroom or through Remind.