For Parents
Goals of Our Program
The Brown Ledge Gap Year has several goals:
- To give young people on the cusp of adulthood a hands-on experience in independent living. To that end, participants will work together in a small community of peers to successfully maintain and run a house, cook meals, and live together in ways that are respectful, meaningful, and sustainable. They will be guided in this experience by Resident Directors in the program, who will help the young people master these important life skills.
- To provide young people with meaningful work. Participants will help find and design their own internships and volunteer positions in two different cities over the course of their time in the program. Finding and holding these jobs will give them a very real sense of what it means to be responsible to and for others and how to navigate the work world that they will soon be entering.
- To expose young people to the variety and vitality of American cities through residencies in cities that are geographically and culturally very different from each other and, potentially, from their own home towns or cities.
- To enable young people to take control of the powerful tools of our digital age. All participants will be trained to create documents of their experiences using digital photography, video, audio, and other forms of reportage.
- To encourage young people to analyze and synthesize the world around them. By making documentary videos, audio stories, or photo essays, participants in the program will be actively engaged in the struggle to make sense of issues and to tell important stories in ways that can be seen and understood by others.
- To prepare young people for the college years by giving them the learned experience of organizing their time, working independently, meeting responsibilities, reaching goals, and living in community through a supportive, guided program.