Collectively, Lifeworks and ActionQuest, our teen adventure program, are one of the oldest and largest programs offering these types of adventures for teens. We have been around over thirty years and, during this time, we have had thousands of students join us. We have a great reputation - in fact, 7 out of 10 students join us because they know someone, or have talked with someone who has done one of our programs. Each year, over 600 teens join us from all over the globe for both Lifeworks and ActionQuest. During the remainder of the year, we operate Sea|mester, our academic, college-level study abroad program for college students and high school graduates.

A lot of this has to do with you as a person... your interests, likes and goals. We offer a range of programs, each vary in geographic location, adventure activities and service projects. Some are more environmentally based and some more human based. If you need some help narrowing down your choices, give us a call and we'll be happy to help!

Safety is paramount and comes first in everything that we do. Our programs are adventurous, so there is an element of risk in some of the activities that we do. However, when you are aware of the risk, you can better control it and, in many cases, use it in your favor as many learn best when they are outside of their comfort zone. Risk management is a key part of operating our programs and at Lifeworks we are constantly reviewing and fine tuning our programs. For more information on safety and training, please view our safety page.

Group size varies from 8 to 22 depending upon the location and the task at hand. Lifeworks accepts students ages 14 to 19, and the average age is around 16 or 17. We find that while working towards a common goal, all of our students grow together as a strong team regardless of any difference in age.

Lifeworks is not a traditional teen summer camp and is far from a teen tour. We are a hands-on community service learning program, and our programs have always been grounded in experiential education.

While we guard our parents' privacy, 95% of them volunteer to act as references for new, interested parents. Upon request, we will gladly put you in touch with a past participant. Please contact us to request references, and also read through the Testimonials page of our website for comments written about our programs by past students and their parents.

You'll find pretty much everything that you need in your closet at home. After enrollment, we'll be sending you our Forms and Planning Packet that contains a detailed packing list.

In many of our program locations, cell phones will either not work or calls are very expensive indeed. More importantly, a lot is learned through total immersion in the program and group activities. Personal phone calls can be disruptive to this process and, for this reason, we ask that cell phones are brought for use during travel days but not used or carried during the program.

Zero tolerance. For both health and safety reasons, any use, possession or association with these products may be cause for immediate dismissal from the program, without refund.

At Lifeworks, we prefer to call these "agreements" rather than rules. Our agreements provide a framework for living in community and are something that we all strive to live up to. We agree to be respectful of others, their property and beliefs and, in the case of our staff, their responsibility. We agree to hold our level of language to a high standard. We also agree to abide by our smoking, drinking and substances policy. Lifeworks is strictly a no smoking or drinking program, and any use or association with any tobacco product, alcoholic beverage or controlled substance, including misuse of prescription medication, may result in immediate dismissal from the program, without refund. All students are required to sign our Student Agreement Contract before the program. Click here to download a copy of our Student Agreement Contract.

As our students fly from all points of the compass, the Lifeworks tuition does not include the cost of air travel. We work directly with a travel coordinator to assist parents in obtaining low cost flights to our program locations. Please click here for further information on your travel arrangements.

There's really no such thing as a typical Lifeworks student. Most summers, we have students join us from about 32 states and 13 foreign countries, so there is naturally a lot of geographical diversity throughout our student population. Most come to us with limited or no previous experience of working as part of a community service team.

Sure you can, but don't feel like you are going to be left out if you don't, as around 90% of our students come on their own. We are very cognizant of the fact that "two's company and three's a crowd," so we do limit the number of teens that know each other on the same program.

Staff to student ratio is 1:5. This provides for the close interaction and individual attention that are our hallmarks.

Like our students, our staff comes from all over the globe with all sorts of different backgrounds. The qualifications and experience of our staff are diverse. Every member of our team is multi-talented, combining the practical skills essential to the operation of a program while covering their particular area of expertise. For more information, please see our Lifeworks Staff page.