Our Mission & Philosophy
Mission Statement
Gap at Glen Brook empowers young adults to create sustainable lives and resilient communities. We work toward this mission through place-based, experiential learning rooted in sustainable farming, homesteading skills, nature connection, intentional community, and self-inquiry.
Our program is nested within Camp Glen Brook, a year-round outdoor education center in southern New Hampshire, right in the heart of New England. Camp Glen Brook has offered Waldorf education-inspired programs– including summer camp, school, family programs, and Gap – on its 250-acre forest and farm facility since 1946. Learn more about Camp Glen Brook.
“Glen Brook’s mission is to nurture a sense of personal responsibility for the world around us – our personal living spaces, our towns and cities, and the natural environment as a whole. At the core of all our activities is a belief in the inherent need in the human spirit to connect with one another and the natural world through work and play, to work creatively for both artistic pleasure and to solve problems of social importance, and to project a sense of compassion and responsibility toward all living things.”
Place-Based Learning
“Cease conceiving of education as mere preparation for later life, and make it the full meaning of the present life.”
The living landscape is our classroom. Getting to know one place deeply - the fields, forests, and waterways around Glen Brook - helps Gappers to understand the patterns of the natural world. We think critically about the history of New England’s farmlands and learn to “read the landscape”. We also place ourselves in time, both in the phenology of the ecological year and within human histories. While many Gap Year Programs take students far afield to exotic locales, we believe in the power of getting to know where we are.
Interdependence
The concept of “interdependence” is a guiding principle in all we do. We want every Gapper to leave Glen Brook feeling that they belong to the family of all things, both human and more-than-human. Our survival, joy, and liberation are interconnected!
“Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.”
Diversity & Equity
Gap at Glen Brook strives to be an environment where diversity is celebrated and all members of our community are included. We welcome the contributions of all cultures. We welcome open dialogue and discussion with staff, participants, parents/family members, and alumni. We aim to find common ground.
Through active learning, we seek to explore the many perceptions and experiences of various ethnicities, races, faiths, religions, socio-economic groups, genders, and the LGBTQ+ community. We challenge ourselves to uncover our biases so that we may meet all members of our community with equanimity and compassion. We actively work to make our program accessible and inclusive to people of all identities. We are a program that teaches our participants to value the differences in individuals, and we recognize that there is strength and wisdom in our diversity. We acknowledge that striving for equity is a constant work-in-progress.
