Last updated: October 24, 2019
Article
Alternative Break Program Comes Back to Flight 93 National Memorial for Second Year
NPS Photo
This past week, Flight 93 National Memorial, and the other National Parks of Western Pennsylvania, hosted nine students from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown as part of the site’s second annual Alternative Break Service Program. This year’s program was a one-of-a-kind event exposing these “Alt Breakers” to the benefits of their national and state park sites as well as the important roles park partners and volunteers play in supporting these special places. This year’s program theme was “Caring for our Nation’s Parks and Public Lands.” Students preformed service at Flight 93 NMEM, Johnstown Flood NMEM, Fort Necessity NB, Laurel Hill State Park, and Camp Allegheny.
An “alternative break” is a trip where a group of students from a select college/university engage in direct service, typically for a week, at a community partner/host site. Each trip has a focus on a particular social issue. With the assistance of the host site/community partner, students educate themselves and each other, then do hands-on work with relevant organizations. Break Away, a national nonprofit organization, promotes the development of quality alternative break programs, through training, assisting, and connecting campuses and communities.
These trips take a holistic approach to volunteerism by fully immersing the students into the culture of the host sites and challenging them to think critically and empathically about the issues the sites and surrounding community are facing.
An “alternative break” is a trip where a group of students from a select college/university engage in direct service, typically for a week, at a community partner/host site. Each trip has a focus on a particular social issue. With the assistance of the host site/community partner, students educate themselves and each other, then do hands-on work with relevant organizations. Break Away, a national nonprofit organization, promotes the development of quality alternative break programs, through training, assisting, and connecting campuses and communities.
These trips take a holistic approach to volunteerism by fully immersing the students into the culture of the host sites and challenging them to think critically and empathically about the issues the sites and surrounding community are facing.