You are asked to be experts in so many things: mental health, social work, post-secondary pathways. Come become "Gap Year Aware" and learn enough to be able to adequately advise and inform students AND learn how CanGap can take a load off of your plate by acting as the councilor for their gap year planning journey.
Here's what our workshop will cover:
Become Gap Year Aware
Discover:
- who benefits from taking a gap year (and who should steer clear)
- how does taking a gap year impact other post-secondary options
- what deferrals actually look like
- high level options for gap year activities (some for earning money, some free and some paid opportunities)
- free resources from CanGap to support educators, parents and students
Guided support from a
gap year, youth, travel, transition and parenting expert.
Michelle Dittmer
Recognizing that students were not being provided with enough opportunity to get hands-on experience to develop life skills, Michelle left the classroom to explore other ways of helping young people find direction and fulfilment. She worked to train other teachers, she instructed outdoor education, she traveled for pleasure and for work and researched what today’s youth really want and need.
All of her life experience drove her to the same conclusion – we need to slow down and give young people the space and time to figure out who they are and to engage in meaningful experiences.
Michelle founded the Canadian Gap Year Association as an antidote to business, mental health challenges and young adults feeling confused and unfulfilled. She has committed her professional life to giving families permission to slow down so their kids can be the best version of themselves and make a healthy transition into adulthood
