About Us: Program Philosophy

Our fundamental objective is to help students develop leadership qualities through holistic adventures based on service-learning, exploration and meaningful interactions in sites across the globe.

• Leadership Development – understanding and enhancement of leadership values and skills
• Holistic – all-encompassing and integrated
• Adventures – exciting and interactive experiences
• Service-Learning – the combination of service to a community linked to learning objectives through a process of discussion and reflection to acquire a deeper understanding of the values of leadership.
• Exploration – discovery of the unknown & challenge
• Meaningful Interactions – environment that fosters deep relationships with people of other cultures, including other students, staff and members of the local community

Because GLA is a high school program rooted in experiential learning, we rely on world-class Mentors to help students process relevant learning objectives. Mentors are actively engaged in all parts of the student experience, and participate in excursions, seminars and community service projects.

In addition to helping to ensure the safety and security of the students, facilitating Discussion & Reflection (D&R) sessions may be the most important responsibilities of a Mentor. It is during these sessions that students connect the lessons from the each of the different elements of the GLA program.

Mentors will lead D&R sessions with the objective of helping students to:

• Derive lessons about leadership that require thinking beyond the immediate emotional response to their experiences. For example, if they have worked with an AIDS clinic, rather than focusing on the situation of the patients, they would discuss the steps that the UN and national government should take to address the AIDS epidemic, as well as discuss what they can do as individuals.
• Challenge personal misconceptions and biases about differences between and the reality of different cultures. For example, after visiting Robben Island in South Africa, discuss the mindset of participants in the Truth & Reconciliation commission.
• Share and explore experiences that have been particularly enlightening or challenging for them. For example, after the first days of community service at a school in Costa Rica, discussing the challenges they've experienced as well as the lessons that they have learned from the local students, and how they will take those lessons home with them.

Through this cycle of action, discussion and reflection, our Mentors engage the students and enlarge the experience, connecting it with larger themes of leadership and personal development.