When Superior Court Judge Howard Manning threatened to close an underperforming school in Alamance County, President Leo M. Lambert found himself rethinking the role of the University in our local community. How could Elon, a thriving institution with tremendous resources, reconcile its place in a community where only seven miles away a high school struggled to survive? What could Elon, as an institution and as a society of individuals, do to address such a serious inequity? As a result of President Lambert’s thinking and his commitment to the broader community, Elon has taken major steps to increase its involvement in local schools and educational efforts. Building on existing programs for new and veteran teachers through the Office of School Outreach Programs in the School of Education, service learning projects and tutoring programs sponsored by the Kernodle Center for Service Learning, the university has initiated new and ambitious programs that will increase Elon’s support of education in the local area. These efforts range from initiatives at Cummings High School to support its restructuring to a new and exciting endeavor, the Elon Academy. The mission of the Elon Academy is to provide academically oriented, low-income high school students in Alamance County with the support they need to attain a college education. It will focus resources on Alamance County high school students who demonstrate academic promise in the face of economic adversity. Many of these young men and women fail to recognize their own potential. Lacking role models with a background of higher education, they are pessimistic about their chances for attending a four-year college or university. We believe that these young people and their families deserve the very best we have to offer. Delivering challenging, effective, and appropriate curricular and co-curricular experiences is critical to their success. We have, therefore, recruited an extremely talented, experienced and dedicated staff. Thanks to a generous gift from Doug and Edna Noiles, the first year of the Academy was funded. It is with gratitude to them that we welcome all our Elon Academy scholars and their families.
