Let's Move Elon Academy
Program Description
Elon Academy is an intensive college access and success program that serves academically promising Alamance-Burlington high school students. The Academy's mission is to support students who are typically underrepresented on college and university campuses as they pursue higher education, build leadership skills, and develop an active sense of social responsibility. The Academy combines three four-week residential experiences at Elon prior to the sophomore, junior, and senior years as well as a monthly Saturday Academy during the academic year. During the residential program, scholars choose from a variety of academic classes, co-curricular activities, and service projects. The monthly Saturday, year-round program includes "Inquiry Projects" (IPs) that culminate in a presentation, performance, or product that is shared with a relevant, authentic audience.
The Let's Move Elon Academy program, inspired by Michelle Obama's Let's Move program, is designed to increase students' awareness and interest in science, health, and sustainable food production. It is a partnership between Elon Academy, Urban Roots, Elon's Campus Kitchen and Community Garden, and the Environmental Studies Department. The program provides Academy students with a class during the summer and an IP during the monthly Saturday year-round program. The focus of the class is on the impact of human activity on environmental sustainability, nutrition, hunger, food justice, organic farming, pesticides, and global constraints (water and habitat destruction). The class and IP are co-led by faculty and community experts with Elon University students serving as teaching assistants. Students engage in activities and apply their learning in Elon's Organic Community Garden and Campus Kitchen. They harvest seasonal fruits and host a farmers market for families in need. They help to develop an Urban Roots Manual and Planting Kit for growing at home. In addition to coursework, activities include volunteering in the garden and kitchen, field trips, and cooking healthy meals for peers and family members.
Format
Year-round program
Eligibility
Alamance-Burlington High School Students
Contact
Deborah Thurlow Long
Professor of Education and Elon Academy Director
Elon University
Campus Box 2108
Elon, NC 27244
Phone: 336/278-5859
Email: dlong@elon.edu