A second distinguishing feature of GeoFORCE Alaska is that it is a four-year program. Students enter the program the summer after 8th or 9th grade and embark on their fourth field experience before or immediately after their senior year. Students must submit transcripts annually; they are required to earn a B average in high school science and math courses throughout the year in order to avoid being placed on probation. Students on probation must draft an academic plan for the coming year outlining a path to improve their performance. They must also demonstrate results in order to be eligible for the next summer Academy.

The four GeoFORCE Academies are both fun and academically intense. The curriculum builds across the program, reinforcing grade-level expectations and giving students a chance to apply the scientific method at spectacular geological locations in and beyond Alaska. Each day, field exercises are followed by interactive evening classes, a review session, and a quiz. Students are required to score at least 80% on a final exam in order to avoid being placed on probation.

Evening classes are designed to prepare students for daily field projects. Lectures emphasize active learning strategies that require students to engage with the material and solve problems, rather than passively taking notes. GeoFORCE students participate in lectures by brainstorming with peers, answering clicker questions, identifying rock samples, and constructing models or concept diagrams.

Each team is guided and facilitated by a graduate or undergraduate student counselor, who also serves as a role model. Counselors are both friends and instructors. They help break the ice, keep groups on task, reward and encourage team member achievements, and provide additional explanations in the field. Counselors also model good academic practices and tutor students at their request. Exit surveys unanimously indicate that students find their counselors to be friendly and/or consider them friends. Working closely with counselors pursuing undergraduate or graduate degrees helps students to envision the next step in their own education.

On each excursion, GeoFORCE students and staff are joined by one or two mentors, employed by industry sponsors. Mentors are assigned to different student teams throughout the week and serve as facilitators or instructors, as determined by the needs or requests of the team. Over the course of four summer Academies, mentors present students with firsthand descriptions of the nature and variety of jobs available to geoscientists. In addition to providing a better sense of what geoscientists actually do at work, interaction with mentors from industry and Native corporation sponsors expands students’ network of professional contacts, which may lead to future internships or jobs.

Examples and field projects are designed to demonstrate relevance to Alaskan geology and Alaskan issues. The Alaska Academy field excursion was developed specifically to expose students from villages on the Arctic Ocean coast to iconic features of Alaskan geology, including glaciers, river systems, coal deposits, and mountains. Guidebooks for the other three trips cite Alaskan examples and specify connections between geologic features in Alaska and sites GeoFORCE visits in the contiguous 48 states. For example, volcanoes visited during the Northwest Academy share a geologic setting with Alaskan volcanoes, and students are asked to brainstorm lists of similarities and differences between the rocky coastline of Oregon and the coastlines near their villages. Discussions with mentors (see above) also help uncover connections between geoscience jobs and Alaska’s economy.