November 2009 Archives

In Fall 2009, students enrolled in HONOR 301H engaged in a multimedia project with two overarching goals: (1) to gain additional knowledge pertaining to primary education and what is being done to make education equal and accessible to all; and (2) to identify and grow your own innovative ideas pertaining to sustained change towards the UN Millennium goal for universal primary education. View the solutions designed by two of the teams!


Looking Abroad for Answers: Solutions for American Education Problems, by John Formento, Lauren Orner, Nina Zeoli

Improving Enthusiasm for Education in Youth Through Parental Involvement and Mentoring, by Mary-Therese Capaldi, Carl Doonan, Diane Paolo

The Socratic Symposium was run a little differently in Fall 2009, as we had three honors scholars defend their senior thesis!  Congratulations to Adrienne, Dana, and Emily for an outstanding job and successful completion to their senior research.

Sensational Lives: Byron and Robinson's Lives Mirrored in Literature  --  Adrienne Showalter, honors in English

Building a Huggy Pillow Volunteer Network for Hospital Cardiac Units  --  Emily Robb, honors in civic and community engagement

Am I Your Slave? William Parker and "The Freedman's Story"  --  Dana Gibson, honors in English and American studies

 

(from Penn State Brandywine News Story)

In keeping with their focus this academic year on universal primary education, Penn State Brandywine honors students are raising money for children in Ghana, Africa to help pay for their schooling. In just four hours on Monday, Nov. 2, the students raised almost 160 dollars in quarters (360 dollars in total) for the Heritage Academy, a co-educational primary and junior high day school founded in 2004 by Kwesi Koomson, a math teacher at the Westtown School in West Chester, and his wife, Melissa.

The quarter mile trail of quarters from the Tomezsko Classroom Building to the Vairo Library will be given to the Heritage Academy, located in Koomson's home village of Breman Esiam in the central region of Ghana, to enable students in the regions to attend secondary school and beyond.

In 2006, the Koomsons established the Schoerke Foundation, which offers scholarships to Heritage students and others in the district based on merit and financial need.

During the week of November 2, the campus was lucky enough to speak directly with Koomson during a visit to campus to discuss the Academy. The honors students also hosted an open mic session, where they discussed the quarters project and the importance of universal primary education, and they even decided to write letters to the students at the Heritage Academy.

The Quarter Mile of Quarters event was held in conjunction with the National Collegiate Honors Council's National Honors Service Day.  Scholars Ben Bean and Jackie Glace were recognized for their outstanding leadership with this service project.