Hey kids, here’s a great way to spend the summer and end up with $500 for college. OK so AmeriCorps is not new. It’s been around since 1993, and pays living expenses (annual minimum $11,400), health insurance, and a whopping award toward college expenses (now $5,350).

What’s new is the passage of the Edward M. Kennedy Save America Act, which includes a program called Summer of Service. It will start next year (although you can apply now). It pays $500 to sixth to twelfth graders who choose a program in which they want to volunteer. It also pays various educational awards to volunteers 55 and older, who can transfer those awards to a child. The program has built-in expansion to 250,000 by 2017.

The NationalService Summer Initiatives page will help you grasp the scope of the program.

Then go to CaliforniaVolunteers. It will show you what’s happening in California.

Lastly, go to Serve.gov. It allows you to say where you want to be, what you want to do, and pretty much write your own ticket.

I do remember sixth grade, sort of…. I can’t say I remember that anyone wanted to pay me $500 for my summer.