Ingenuity Year
Vitals
- GYA Accredited Since: Unaccredited by the GYA. Please see the Standards for more information.
-
Enrolling:
Yes - Mission Statement:
Ingenuity Year runs gap year programs for students with Learning Differences and ADHD. We help students develop skills, maturity, and independence that will serve them in college and beyond. We do this by engaging with real challenges facing real communities with a like-minded community of peers.
-
Level of Independence/Supervision (mouse-over for definition):
12345
Attachments
Program Locations
Typical Itinerary
Week 1 - Orientation
Week 2 - Canoeing the St. Croix River
Week 3 - Introduction to Climate Change and Projects
Week 4 - Introduction to Farming and Agriculture
Weeks 5 & 6 - Expeditions to the Common Ground Fair and Castle Island
Week 7 - Work on Projects and Prepare for Student-led Expedition
Week 8 - Student-led Expedition
Week 9 - Final Work on Climate Projects and Capstone Project
Week 10 - Capstone Presentations and Next Transitions
Program Outcomes
- Increased knowledge of self and the world
- Increased confidence
- Increased independence and maturity
- Ability and practice of self advocacy
- Developed and practiced skill set for post-secondary life
- Improved Executive Functioning skills
- Transitional plan to transfer new skills to next steps
Our programming is designed to combine the traditional benefits of a gap year with additional elements that are especially beneficial for students with learning differences and ADHD such as EF Coaching, the practice of self-advocacy, and a focus on building independence.
You can think of us as a Gap+ experience.
Program Details
- Program Starts: Fall
- Program Duration: Semester
- Typical Program Cost: 16500
- Program Financial Aid: No
- Other Financial Aid Details:
We are currently working to acquire financial aid for our programming.
Staff Training and Certification
Dr. Erin Garcia, who earned her Doctor of Education degree from East Tennessee State University, brings over a decade of experience to the role. She has worked in secondary and postsecondary education and served as an educational consultant for educational programming. Her areas of expertise include experiential learning, international education, student retention, and program management. She began her work by managing community engagement opportunities for high school seniors who needed to fulfill internship requirements toward capstone projects.
Erin’s love for international education stirred from her own experiences growing up abroad in Southeast Asia with her family. This experience allowed her to learn new cultures, overcome obstacles through grit and determination, and develop a passion for international learning from a young age. It was this experience that fostered her dissertation topic, which focused on students who self-design their own gap year and how these experiences created meaning and helped students shape their own self-authorship.
Before joining Forman, Erin’s efforts in the classroom focused on working with underrepresented student populations with a variety of interests in developing their executive functioning skills to further develop students’ personal and professional interests. She also consulted for various for-profit and higher educational institutions, which, combined with her teaching experiences, gave her a deep knowledge of the holistic needs for student success, especially regarding real-world application of newly acquired skillsets.