The Elon Academy held opening day ceremonies on Sunday for the annual residential component of a program that brings gifted high school students from Alamance County to campus for academic enrichment and leadership development.
The Academy is a year-round program for students in the Alamance-Burlington School System who have financial need or have no family history of college attendance. It combines three intensive four-week summer residential experiences at Elon with a variety of academic activities throughout the school year.
The goal is to inspire and empower students to attend four-year colleges or universities, and go on to assume leadership roles in their communities.
Hadley’s talk centered around something she called the “The ‘Aha!’ Moment,” the instant when “a person realizes many different lessons at once.” For instance, she said, the Biblical figure Noah had an “Aha!” moment as the rain started to fall upon completion of the Ark.
“Over the next four weeks and several years, your Elon Academy staff, instructors and mentors are going to ask you to prepare yourselves academically, intellectually and socially in ways that you and maybe your parents have never heard of and that you and maybe your parents may think are absolutely ridiculous,” Hadley said. “But the program here is proposing these activities so that in the coming years when the rains of life begin to drop, your ‘ark’” – she then pointed to her head – “will be ready to rise with the tide and weather every storm.”
Hadley also shared a formula for success for getting into college that she was taught by a guidance counselor at Graham High School: “Keep up your grades, stay out of trouble, get involved in school activities and keep up with current events.”
Elon Academy staff worked closely with advocates from all six Alamance-Burlington high schools and with Hadley to identify and select bright, highly-motivated, local students who dream of going to college.
All 50 students will spend a month on the Elon campus taking academic courses during the day and participating in an evening curriculum that includes golf, dance, racquetball, art and music. Students will be engaged in leadership development classes, service projects, and college planning activities.
Elon students and faculty members, along with other educators in the area, will mentor students and teach classes. Students will also have the opportunity to visit a variety of colleges and universities so that they can begin to consider which school is the best fit for them.
Deborah Long, director of the Elon Academy, shared Academy scholars why they were selected among the hundreds of students from Alamance County who applied since 2007: “You all expressed a desire to reach out to others,” she said, noting how many students wanted to attend college to give back to their families and communities. “Dreams, determination and desire. This is why you’re sitting here today.”
The members of the Beta Class pledged to uphold an honor code during the ceremonies – one based on integrity, respect, responsibility and civility – before signing their names in a Call to Honor book in the center of the Whitley Auditorium stage. Each student waspresented with a gold coin, symbolizing the strength of the academiccommunity and the importance of its values.
A picnic for students, their families and the Elon Academy staff was held Under the Oaks immediately following the ceremonies.
An afternoon College Coffee was held at Fonville Fountain on June 16, where the Elon University community met with the Alpha and Beta classes of the Elon Academy.