What Should Your Teen Actually Do This Summer?
Every June, parents in the GTA ask me the same question: “What should my teen do this summer?”
The honest answer is uncomfortable. Most summer options fall into two categories:
Pure fun: camps that fill the day but leave nothing behind in September.
Pure grind: tutoring that drags school into July and burns the student out before Grade 12 even starts.
There is a third option, and almost no one talks about it:
‘Use the summer to install a skill that changes over the next ten years.’
Two months is enough time. It is not enough for everything, but it is enough for one real thing. The question is which one.
This summer at Rutherford Private School, I am running two programs designed around exactly that idea. Both are built on the same principle: teach the method of thinking, not just the topic. Below I’ll explain what each one is for, who it fits, and how to choose:
1.Learn the language of the next decade: AiAppMaker
The most valuable skill of the next decade will not be Python. It will not be Java. It will be the language we use to talk to AI.
The students who learn this now will design tomorrow’s home security systems, the delivery drones for Shoppers Drug Mart, the medical AI assistants, and the businesses we cannot yet imagine. The students who do not learn it will work for those who did.
AI App Maker is a summer bootcamp for students in Grades 7-12. Here is what your teen actually does:
Learns to think logically and break problems apart — the foundation of every engineer and entrepreneur.
Turns a real idea they care about into a working AI app prototype by the end of the camp.
Students work in mixed-age teams where each person contributes different strengths — from creative ideas and design to coding, testing, and presenting.
By the end, your teen walks away with three things: sharper logical thinking, a real prototype in their hands, and a completely new way of seeing technology.
Who this is for: the curious teen, the one who asks “but why?”, the one who already builds things in Minecraft or Roblox or Scratch, the one who wants to be on the building side of the future — not the watching side.
2. Earn real high school credits: Math Skills Maker (Grade 11 - 12)
Most math courses teach your teen how to pass a test. This one teaches them how engineers, physicists, and inventors actually think — and at the end, your teen walks away with an official Ontario high school credit on their transcript.
Math Skills Maker is for Grade 11 and Grade 12 students. It is two things at once: a course about a method of thinking, and a path to a real Ontario credit that counts toward the OSSD and university admission averages.
Here is what I do in the classroom
I take a quadratic equation — the same one your teen has seen a hundred times — and I turn it into a detective story. From the detective story, we travel to the gravity between Earth and the planets of our solar system. From gravity, we arrive at a real 21st-century engineering project: a satellite, a bridge, a Mars trajectory.
The lesson my students leave with is the most important one in modern science: imaginary mathematical models become real engineering. Once a teenager truly understands this, math stops being a subject to survive. It becomes a tool to build with. This is exactly the mindset top universities — Waterloo, U of T, McMaster, MIT — are looking for in their applicants.
Earn a real Ontario credit and lift the transcript
Students who complete the course earn an official Ontario high school credit, issued by Eligor Corporation, an inspected private school (BSID 665178). Choose the credit that fits your teen:
MCR3U – Functions, Grade 11
MHF4U – Advanced Functions, Grade 12
MCV4U – Calculus & Vectors, Grade 12
The credit appears on the official Ontario Student Transcript (OST) and counts toward the OSSD. For students applying to university, a stronger grade earned in the summer can replace a weaker grade from the school year — directly raising the Grade 12 admission average. This is one of the most effective tools available for university applicants, and most parents do not know it exists.
Who this is for: the Grade 11 or Grade 12 student heading into university applications. The one who wants their transcript to reflect what they’re actually capable of. The one who is willing to trade a few weeks of summer for a real advantage in September.
So which one?
For students in Grades 7–10 who love creating, experimenting, and building things, AI App Maker is where curiosity turns into real projects.
For Grade 11–12 students focused on university admissions, Math Skills Maker is designed to strengthen advanced math skills, boost confidence, and help improve academic performance where it matters most.
And for students interested in both? Combining the two can be powerful — one supports the transcript, while the other develops practical skills that will continue to matter long after high school.
At the end of the day, summer doesn’t need to be packed with ten different activities. One meaningful, well-spent summer can genuinely shift a student’s direction going into the next school year.
Ready to talk?
Both programs are intentionally kept small so students receive more support and guidance throughout the summer. If you’d like help deciding which program is the best fit for your teen, feel free to reach out.
Registration Form: https://forms.gle/NvDwJqNseEGzouDN7 Contact Number: + 1 905-532-0229