This week, the majority of our class was spent presenting our findings on the organizations we are currently considering partnering with for our project in Namibia. Each group discussed the potential merits and disadvantages of each organization, as well as presented more background and financial information on the organizations. The presentations gave us a clearer sense of what we would and could do in Namibia. While we are still not exactly sure of what we want to do, or with whom, we are certainly getting a better sense of what we are interested in, and getting a taste of what it is like to vet organizations! We are also expecting a visit from Dr. Moore next class to talk about Grow Biointensive, one of the organizations we are looking at, which will continue to aid us in our decision making.

Towards the end of class we talked about the upcoming induction ceremony for the new class of Pericleans (class of ‘18), which our events committee has done a fabulous job putting together. We could not be more excited to welcome the new class, and are looking forward to the ceremony on Thursday!

Peace, Love, Periclean,

Anna and Kelsey

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Today’s class was all about project development and continuing our conversation about potential partners and areas of focus.  Last class we narrowed down a couple areas that we wanted to continue to explore and one of those was HATponics, an organization that focuses on sustainable agriculture through the hydroponic farming.  Today, we Skyped with the CEO of HATponics, Ryan Cox, who showed us examples of the farming technology that he has implemented in several countries and discussed how Periclean Scholars could be involved.  Our very own David May made this contact last semester and he led the discussion.  We submitted individual questions that David asked and we were able to gain insight on the different stages involved in being apart of a HATponics project.

After this Skyping session, we discussed this organization and the possibilities involved as a group and then we planned different groups to split into to research not only HATponics more, but other organizations that we are interested in.  By next class these different groups will present on what they found so that we can move closer to narrowing our focus in Namibia.

In terms of Periclean Scholars here at Elon, we stressed the advertising and media push for the Cookies to Go-Go Event hosted by the Class of 2016. Most of us took steps on Facebook and Twitter to promote this event!

Lastly, we discussed last minute induction plans, as well as what kind of “swag” we want to present to the new inductees. Also, plans for mentor-mentee pairing and relationships were brought up. Overall, we are very excited about meeting the new Pericleans and helping to show them just how incredible the Periclean Program is!

Peace, Love & Periclean <3

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This week, we started this week’s class as we do every week going over progress that we have made and work that is still left to be done. Kelsey started our class off on an exciting note, announcing that our website is up and running (you can check it out at pericleanscholars2017.weebly.com). This website will help us share our mission and goals with potential partners and give others a way to contact us. The importance of meeting people and making connections was emphasized when Kendra announced that she has met a former activist who lives in Asheville and worked in Namibia for 2.5 years. We are looking forward to gaining information from her experiences and making future connections such as these. Then the class moved on to awareness and fundraising for Periclean. We are lucky to have Claire available to create Profit Shares, because we know we will start our fundraising efforts soon. Upcoming on the calendar, we are looking forward to the Elon Volunteers Aware Fair and Rising Phoenix Weekend where we can connect with students. Speaking of talking to students and raising awareness, an information session was held on March 5 for first-years who are interested in applying for Periclean Scholars Class of 2018. We were excited to see a good amount of students show up and show their interest and excitement for the program.

Then Sarah got us into the mindset of potential projects by presenting on topics she is very knowledgeable about, which are Drought, Climate Change, and Food Insecurity. With a short presentation, Sarah showed us the desperateness of the situation and made us think about ways we can potentially help. The class acknowledged when thinking about a project, we need to get in contact with alumni and community members in Namibia, so we have a good understanding of the situation and the community’s needs.

We are now questioning and discussing how we want to approach the project: whether we approach a community or organization first or we select a topic and follow that up with finding a community. This is an ongoing discussion, that will become clearer as we learn more from our contacts that we are reaching out to. By next week, we hope to make contact with influential community members in and out of Namibia.

We are excited for the upcoming weeks as we begin to create connections in Namibia!

Kendra and Elli

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After missing a class session due to inclement weather, we’re back on track. The first order of business was discussing our new website! Designed by Kelsey Lane, it features information about the general Periclean program as well as information on our class mission. It’s a great start to what will most likely become the center of the Periclean Class of 2017’s online presence. Dr. Thomas Arcaro came by our class to talk about several items, the first of which being a website for the Periclean Foundation as a whole that is being developed as well, which will allow us to stay connected to the program long after we graduate. He discussed the direness of the drought in Namibia; the already incredibly dry nation’s vital grain crop (Mahangu) is struggling with the lack of rain, leaving many desperate for food. Dr. Arcaro also updated us on the class of 2018 and reminded us of the Lumen Prize.

Networking became the focus as we discussed where to go next. We are looking for as much information as possible from people that live in Namibia and have experience with the issues that the nation faces. It is important that we act in an effective and meaningful way, and we can only do this with the aid of our Namibian counterparts. Official methods of communication were established as well as a committee for contacting and establishing relationships with partners.

We have some cultural events coming up for some class-wide bonding scheduled by the social committee. We are also working hard to spread the word about the application process for the class of 2018, with a new pamphlet design and t-shirts on the way. Besides that, we’re continuing to work and get more information for our possible project. Despite the snow we are still going strong!

-Susan Reynolds and David May

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After getting settled into the spring semester, we are excited about where we are headed as Pericleans! The newest addition to our classroom dynamic is  committees. Our committees are: events, grant-writing, alumni relations, social media, steering committee, social, and the “committee on committees.” We started out class giving brief updates on the work all the committees are doing. While we have yet to make significant progress on anything because the semester has just begun, we had plenty of great ideas to share.

A few committee highlights include:

• Planning for the 2018 Induction Ceremony
• Brainstorming ways to connect with alumni, including the creation of a Periclean LinkedIn account
• Methods of advertising Periclean, particularly to first-year students
• Creating a weekly update email
• Creating a list of relevant cultural events to attend
• Developing a mentor/mentee program between the 2017 and 2018 classes

We finished up our class by discussing a possible focus for our group. At the end of last semester, it seemed as if the general consensus was to work with child headed households and see if we could create a project from there. However, after brainstorming in small groups, it seems as though we are collectively leaning towards looking for a target community or region in Namibia before making other decisions.

Overall, we are extremely happy with the progress that we have made in only two weeks. The division of committees is an organized and helpful addition to our classroom environment. Stay updated for more progress on our project ideas and future fundraising events!

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The Periclean Scholars Class of 2017 is back and better than ever!  Over Winter Term, our cohort traveled to all corners of the globe, from India to Australia to Ethiopia.  But now we have returned and are ready to continue our initiative to address global issues, especially in our region of focus, Namibia.

We began the first day of our spring semester by catching up with our classmates, as many of us had not seen each other for 2 months! Then, we discussed pressing matters, including our syllabus and the induction for the Class of 2018 Pericleans.  After a few words of motivation from our mentor Carol Smith, we broke into committees to further go over the syllabus and our goals for the semester, both personally and on the overall class level.

To end our first day back together, we rejoined as a group, making some final points to close out the period.  We have quite of few goals for this semester, including hosting our first fundraisers, deciding on an issue of focus, and starting to establish relationships with local partners.  The Periclean Scholars Class of 2017 has rejoined and is refreshed, ready to get rolling with our work this semester.

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The Class of 2017 has wrapped the semester with lots of reflection and team bonding. On our second-to-last day of class, we were blessed with beautiful weather and our lovely mentor, Carol, brought in a parachute. We spent the remainder of class outside and used this opportunity to de-stress and have some fun while playing games to get to know each other a little better. Our last day of class consisted of a version of speed dating, where we had short conversations with many of our classmates to find out some fun facts and explore things we had in common. Seeing as we started off the semester by going to the Challenge Course and initially getting to know one another, it seemed only fitting to end the semester with group bonding. A large portion of our semester was dedicated to learning how to work with each other and exploring how we can be effective as a team during our next two years together. These last few days of class made us realize how much we have grown as a group and how much more comfortable we feel around one another, which is crucial for effective teamwork.

For our final exam, we were given two reflection papers to write. The first was a series of questions, in which we had to think critically about what we have learned from Periclean this semester and how the experience has impacted us. For the second paper, we were asked to respond to three questions pertaining to our experience so far as Periclean Scholars: What? So what? Now what? We were then asked to provide an overall reflection of the semester. During our final exam period on Friday, December 5^th, we discussed our answers to these questions and talked about what we hope to accomplish next semester. This in-depth reflection was a wonderful note to end the semester on. The Class of 2017 has had such a wonderful experience our first semester as Periclean Scholars, and we are excited to see what we will accomplish in the semesters to come!

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