Adventure Treks is thrilled to announce that we are now an accredited gap semester program with the Gap Year Association! Roisin Low spearheaded this time-intensive and demanding process, and we are grateful for all of her efforts to achieve accreditation.
What does being accredited mean for Adventure Treks?
The Gap Year Association (GYA) is the official Standards Development Organization for gap year education as recognized by the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission. Within GYA, an independent committee of experts in gap year education, risk management, and other relevant fields regularly update a robust set of standards for professional integrity in gap year education. Program providers who earn GYA‘s Seal of Accreditation have undergone a thorough review of their organizational philosophy, professional ethics, community engagement practices, risk management policies, and student experiences, and have been found to uphold the highest professional standards in the field.
Read more about GYA accreditation standards here.
We are honored to join the list of GYA’s accredited gap semester programs. Adventure Treks has been committed to growing and developing our gap semester program since we launched our inaugural semester in fall 2020. We’re confident that with the support of the GYA, Adventure Treks’ Leadership Adventure Semester program will continue to provide one of the most substantive, personal, and carefully cultivated outdoor adventure and leadership programs available.
Having just finished our fall 2022 gap semester, we’d like to share a few recent testimonials:
Freshly back from the leadership gap semester, we have already seen maturity and development in our son on every one of Adventure Treks’ Great 8 Outcomes: communication, collaboration & social achievement, creativity, critical thinking, leadership, self-management, resilience, and optimism. Personally knowing instructors at NOLS and Outward Bound, we considered those programs but found AT to be a better fit with a more individualized approach and holistic development of adulting skills and executive function—they deliver on who they say they are and what they say they do using the outdoor environment to help, as our son now says, “realize my full potential.” We have been fully impressed and delighted from the first click of interest on their website, to the photos and blogs bringing us along their journey, to the call from the emergency room (relatively minor injury), to the spring in our son’s step and spark in his eye upon returning. As our son says “I could not have imagined a better option after high school. – Jon Heller, parent from Mystic, CT
Our son’s gap semester with AT was a transformative experience that exceeded our expectations and his. He gained lifelong friends, new skills, and values to take with him into his young adulthood. I’m thankful the program included a cross cultural component. He had an amazing adventure with wonderful hosts in Costa Rica, which broadened his view of the world and taught him what is really important— family, community, hard work, nature, and gratitude, among other things. It WAS hard work and challenged him in many ways, but he had such a blast! For us, this program was an essential step to prepare him for college next semester. – Katie Driver, parent from Augusta, GA
Adventure Treks is now offering two fall 2023 gap semesters: One in western North Carolina, and one in the Pacific Northwest. Both will focus on leadership, personal growth and development, outdoor recreation, community, and friendship, and will offer the opportunity to earn academic credit and a wilderness first responder certification.
If you’re interested in learning more about Adventure Treks’ gap semester, we’d love to chat with you! Call us anytime at 888-954-5555 or shoot us an email!