Gap Year Options

AFS International Programs, Inc.- www.afs.org Provides intercultural learning opportunities abroad with the aim of promoting a more just and peaceful world.

AmeriCorps- www.americorps.gov In return for serving the United States in humanitarian, educational, or environmental endeavors, students receive college scholarships or awards that they can use to pay off college loans.

Brown Ledge GAP Year- Gives students life and work skills while training them in documentary production. The program starts with an intensive training session in techniques and styles of video, audio and digital photography. Participant then travel to Salt Lake City and New Orleans where they live together, while individually doing half-time internships or community service and creating their own documentary.

City Year- www.cityyear.org Putting idealism to work, this AmeriCorps program is a national service organization that unites young adults, ages 17-24, from diverse racial, cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds for a demanding year of full-time community service, leadership development and civic engagement.

College Internship Program- www.collegeinternshipprogram.com Provides comprehensive individualized academic, internship and independent living experiences for young adults, ages 18-25, with learning differences, Asperger's Syndrome High Functioning Autism, Nonverbal Learning Differences, ADHD, Dyslexia and PPDD-NOS.

Council on Internationl Educational Educational Exchange (CIEE)- www.ciee.org Spending a year or semester with a family abroad, studying and improving fluency in a modern language and volunteering in the community or working as an English teacher allows students to immerse themselves in every aspect of the host culture.

Cultural Experiences Abroad- www.gowithcea.org Provides college study abroad programs to U.S. and Canadian students in 15 countries and 28 cities across the globe.

Dynamy Internship Year- www.dynamy.org A one-year program for students graduating from high school and looking for a way to find direction before going to college.

El Casal Barcelona- www.elcasalbarcelona.com An intensive program specifically designed for gap year students, this program combines travel, Spanish language study, cultural activities, home stay and involvement in the local community.

G.A.P. Adventures- www.gapadventures.com Specializes in unique small group outdoor adventure travel. The program strives to show the real world by going off the beaten track, to the heart of the destination and meeting locals who call it home, with a focus on culture, nature and active travel.

GlobalQuest International Semester Programs- www.gquest.org Twelve week semester programs and six-week summer programs in Thailand and Ecuador for high school seniors and students between high school and college.

Go Abroad- wwwgoabroad.com A directory guide for study abroad, language school, internships and international volunteer positions.

The Landing School- www.landingscool.edu Year-long certificate programs in boat building, marine systems, or yacht design provides a hands-on experience (as well as career entry credentials) for those with a passion for boats.

International Culture Adventures- wwwicadventures.com These six and twelve week programs in the High Andes of Peru and sacred Himalaya of India allow students to live with local families and serve communities in need.

National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) www.nols.edu A wilderness educational school offering expedition-length courses in eight countries.

Omprakash- www.omprakash.org A database of volunteer opportunities at grassroots health, education and environmental projects around the world.

Rotary Youth Exchange- www.rotary.org/en/StudentAndYouth Participants spend a year living with a host families and attending school in a different country.

School for Field Studies, Environmental Field Studies Abroad- www.fieldstudies.org Learn about environmental field studies programs in Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico and British West Indies.

SeaMester Program- www.seamester.com Eighty-day, credit-bearing semester programs focusing on college level academics, seamanship and personal growth for high school graduates and college students.

Student Conservation Association- wwwthesca.org SCA offers three to six month, expense-paid internship opportunities in all fifty states, in more than fifty professional fields with the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, the U.S. Geological Survey, and state and local agencies, among others. Most SCA interns work one-on-one along side conservation professionals, while a few others work in small groups, under SCA supervisions, doing wilderness restoration, exotic plant management, fire fuels mitigation and environmental education.

Study Abroad.com- www.studyabroad.com

Up With People- www.upwithpeople.org Provides students with an extraordinary six-month tour. Up With People student travel with one hundred young adults from over twenty countries to many fascinating cities on several continents. They live with host families in each city, develop and refine leadership skills beneficial to any career path, conduct service learning projects, perform a one-hour long professional musical production in each community and gain college credit at several universities in the United States.

Volunteer for Peace- www.vfp.org A non-profit membership program that offers placement in over three thousand volunteer projects in more that one hundred countries. VFP also offers fifty to sixty service projects in the U.S. each year. There are a wide variety of volunteer service projects available from sustainable agriculture to environmental protection, helping the elderly and orphans to preserving archaeological sites.

Where There Be Dragons- www.wheretherebedragons.com While programs vary in focus, common to all programs is rugged and often gritty travel to infrequently visited towns and villages - places where traditional culture is rich and where Western culture has made few inroads. For students who choose to take an interim year or time off from high school or college, Dragons has developed exciting programs in India and China.

World Learning: Global Education, Study Abroad, International Development and Teacher Education- www.worldlearning.org Nonprofit overseas educational training programs. Includes job opportunities and contact information.

Youth for Understanding International Exchange- www.yfu.org A nonprofit educational organization that offers opportunities for young people around the world to spend a summer, semester or year with a host family in another culture.

Gap Year Consultants

The Center for Interim Programs- wwwinterimprograms.com A service that assists students in pursuing structured alternatives to formal education or work by matching clients' interests with internships, volunteer positions, apprenticeships, cultural studies programs, etc., worldwide, to create "time off" that can give a new direction, sharpen hazy career goals, rejuvenate those on the verge of burnout and provide a much-needed break to students between high school and college or those already in college.

Taking Off - www.takingoff,net A highly personalized program that works with young people who are taking time off from a traditional classroom setting either before, during or after college. Taking Off invests the time and effort to help students identify interests, evaluate priorities and secure opportunities.

Time Out Associates- wwwwhereyouheaded.com A service that works with individual clients to search for options for summers, semesters, and for full year experiences. Clients include high school students seeking alternatives, high school graduates, college students and graduates looking for a break before entering the work force.

The Experiment in International Living- www.experiment.org An international nonprofit organization promoting intercultural learning through home stays, educational group travel, study abroad, language training au pair and other cultural immersion programs.

Compliments of Falmouth High School