Springfield High School - Gap Year Alternative

Taking a year off between high school and college or between high school and work is very appealing to some students after thirteen years of primary and secondary school. In England, this year out is called the gap year. Although they know they want a break, some give little thought to the year other than the desire to do something different or go somewhere else. A carefully planned year can be a valuable and challenging learning experience. A well-structured year can help a young person to grow up and to find self-direction. College admission officers are increasingly recognizing the increased maturity that comes from a sustained commitment to tasks that a student does both within and outside formal education.

With some advance planning, students can enhance their education instead of trying to use the year to escape from it. The wide variety of opportunities allows young people choice and flexibility in planning a rewarding year. Possibilities include cultural exchanges, educational courses and visits, expeditions, volunteer work and structured work experience among others.

The Dynamy Internship Year is in its 31st year as an urban experiential education program. Each year several dozen 17-to-22 year olds from all over the country come to Dynamy, in Worcester, MA, in search of an educational experience that takes place outside the traditional classroom.

Dynamy Interns are welcome all over the Worcester area in settings that range from the arts and culture, to human services, education, the environment, business, city and town offices, the media, and more. Much more.

Put your idealism to work through AmeriCorps. Make a community safer. Help a kid get a real education. Protect the environment. Whatever your interest, there's an AmeriCorps program that needs your courage, your skills, and your dedication. Do something special, something unique, something exciting. Are you up to the challenge?

You decide where and how to serve. Each year, more than 40,000 members serve with programs in every state in the nation. You can tutor kids in your own community, or build new homes for families far away from your home. Restore coastlines or help families traumatized by domestic violence. You might do the work yourself, or help others serve by organizing projects and recruiting volunteers. Whatever you do, there's an AmeriCorps challenge just waiting for you.

Get an education, experience, and skills. You'll learn teamwork, communication, responsibility, and other essential skills that will help you for the rest of your life. And you'll gain the personal satisfaction of taking on a challenge and seeing results.

You will be able to pay your bills. You'll receive a modest living allowance, health insurance, student loan deferment, and training. Plus, after you complete your service, you'll receive a $4,725 education award to help pay for college, grad school, vocational training, or to pay off student loans. Serve part-time and you'll get a portion of that amount.

Choose from nearly 1,000 national and local groups. You can be an AmeriCorps member with any of the programs that make up AmeriCorps -- national groups like the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, and Boys and Girls Clubs, and local community centers and places of worship. Find the type of program you want in the area where you want to serve.

The Student Conservation Association allows you to serve the great outdoors while tapping into an inner, personal landscape you may never have known existed. With exciting, hands-on service opportunities lasting up to a full year, women and men as young as 16 can start blazing a new trail of conservation service, experiential environmental education, career skills and leadership training. The Student Conservation Association (SCA) is America's largest and oldest provider of national and community conservation service opportunities, outdoor education and career training for youth. SCA volunteers and interns annually perform more than one million hours of conservation service in national parks, forests, refuges, and urban areas in all 50 states.

Putting idealism to work. City Year is a national service organization which unites young adults, age 17-24, from diverse racial, cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds for a demanding year of full-time community service, leadership development, and civic engagement.

Located in Brattleboro, Vt., this international nonprofit organization promotes intercultural learning through homestays, educational group travel, study abroad, language training, au pair, and other cultural immersion programs.

AFS is a non-profit, volunteer-based educational organization offering exchanges for students, young adults and teachers in over 50 countries around the world.

Youth For Understanding (YFU) is a non-profit educational organization which offers opportunities for young people around the world to spend a summer, semester or year with a host family in another culture.

Every year approximately 7,000 students ages 15 to 19 go abroad under the auspices of the Rotary Youth Exchange program, either for the academic year or an extended period of time. The increased self awareness and global perspective that they derive from the experience would not be possible without the commitment of the many volunteer host families and the dedication of those Rotarians who serve as Youth Exchange officers. In fact, this commitment and enthusiasm is transferred to many exchange students who continue their involvement after their exchange as members of ROTEX.

Founded in 1980, with offices in Massachusetts and New Jersey, The Center for INTERIM Programs is a service that enables people to pursue structured alternatives to formal education or work by matching clients' interests with over 3,000 internships, apprenticeships, volunteer positions, and cultural study programs worldwide. These Interim alternatives often give individuals new direction, sharpen hazy career goals, rejuvenate those on the verge of burnout, and provide a much-needed break for students between high school and college, or at other points during and after college.

Advice for students and families about the passage through high school and college - and all the twists in between. Assisting students in researching opportunities for productive summers, for more effective and comprehensive college choices, and for alternative educational opportunities.

Explore, through firsthand experience, the issues behind textbook lessons and the media! Fully accredited, traveling undergraduate and graduate programs that transform students into inspired, compassionate environmental educators, leaders and activists.

GlobalQuest offers twelve-week semester programs in international settings. The program was established in 1999 and initial semester offerings are based in Thailand. As GlobalQuest grows, we will offer semesters throughout the world.

The Study Abroad Directory is the source for study abroad programs. Search through thousands of international academic programs, university study abroad programs, overseas universities, and language schools around the world.

Our mission is to provide learning experiences through service and exploration in developing nations. Our purpose is twofold: first, to provide high school and college students opportunities for independent research, studies in a variety of disciplines, and service in villages; secondly, to expand skills, and to contribute to villagers’ efforts to improve their quality of life through the use of sustainable technologies.

Academic Voyages For High School Graduates & College Students 80-day, credit-bearing semester programs focusing on college level academics, seamanship and personal growth for high school graduates and college students. In the stimulating environment of the Caribbean islands, the expedition becomes the vehicle for gaining knowledge and understanding, confidence and skills.

This site provides a comprehensive search and up-to-date online listings of language and study abroad programs. Use our country portals to find study abroad programs, travel info, maps, and more!!! Search our study abroad programs by: Academic Year/Semester, Summer, Experiential/Internships, High School, Intersession, ESL, TEFL Certificate, Summer, Law and Business.

The School for Field Studies is the country's oldest and largest educational institution exclusively dedicated to training and engaging undergraduates in international environmental problem solving. Discover how you can live and study in some of the most beautiful and threatened ecosystems in the world while earning college credit for participating in real-life field studies of challenging environmental dilemmas.

Founded in 1932 as The U.S. Experiment in International Living, World Learning is the only international organization with both academic and project capabilities dedicated to promoting intercultural understanding, social justice, and world peace. Through distinctive educational methods based on experiential learning and the integration of theory and practice, the programs of World Learning build knowledge, develop leaders in education and management, contribute to global development, and effect change.

Consultants for Global Programs (CGP) is a nonprofit, international, educational service organization. Our mission is world peace through international understanding and awareness by personal involvement. We feel that personally becoming involved in another culture and knowing people from that culture provides one with a better understanding of other societies and their peoples.

The purpose of the National Outdoor Leadership School is to train leaders, to help people learn to care about and protect the wilderness, and to give people the tools to travel safely through wild places.

Providing the instruction, the tools, and the freedom to practice and use what you learn are the roots of our education. Sea kayaking, mountaineering, whitewater boating, sailing, rock climbing, backpacking, Leave No Trace camping, horsepacking . . . the list of skills you gain on a NOLS course is as deep as your desire to learn.

If you are looking to do a post graduate year of school before moving on to college, this website is a great search engine for boarding schools world wide.