Interterm 2008
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Faith, Film, Philosophy and Food
Stained Glass: "On the Cutting Edge"
La Casa: Making Your Mark
International Cuisine
Urban Faith Works
Amigo Adventure and Service
Traveling the Underground Railroad
Exploring the National Past Time
Cape Lookout National Seashore
MCC Appalachia: Community, Culture, and Coal
Philadelphia Service and Culture
Students critically examined the basic philosophies and approaches to faith that are present in film. Students identified key reflective questions, viewed 6-8 movies, and filmed a scene from one of the movies. After each movie, students wrote an evaluation and discussed key themes over a meal or dessert.
Students learned the art of stained glass construction, creation, and maintenance. Building small projects and a major project, including clocks, wall hangings, ornaments, windows, or a jewelry box.
Students served with LaCasa of Goshen, which provide safe, attractive and affordable housing for Elkhart and Goshen residents.
With the help of guest chefs, students prepared foods from three countries: Kenya, Egypt, and Laos. The chefs also shared with students about customs and hospitality related to food and guests. They also explored Italian food at Il Forno restaurant and made foods on their own from India and South America.
Students worked with inner city kids in Gary, Ind., at Urban Faith Works, an after school and summer program aimed at improving their academic and social skills and their understanding of scripture and God's love. Bethany students helped in tutoring and building relationships, as well as helping with small work projects at their facilities.
Students stayed in the beautiful environment of Amigo Centre and participated in activities such as an overnight camping trip, hiking, canoeing, high ropes course, and other camp-type activities. They also gave one day of their time and talents in service back to Amigo.
Students explord the African experience of slavery in the United States and the quest for freedom through the Underground Railroad. Students spent the first three days watching Roots (the miniseries which dramatizes author Alex Haley's family line from his ancestor Kunta Kinte's enslavement to his descendents' liberation), researching the Underground Railroad, preparing a readers' theater, and learning about local underground railroad activity in Elkhart and LaGrange counties. On the fourth day students visited the national Undergound Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati and stayed overnight there. On Friday the group visited two underground railroad historic sites in nearby Ripley, Ohio, and the home of the president of the Underground Railroad (Levi Coffin) in Fountain City, Ind. In the evening the group participated in an intense underground railroad simulation at Connor Prairie that also helped students think about modern day slavery and other forms of injustice in our society. Read student reflections.
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| National Underground Railroad Freedom Center: Group poses inside an actual slave pen. Below left students act out a readers theater vignette and below right students listen to a Quaker talk about helping freedom seekers at a safe house on the underground railroad simulation. |
Students attended major league baseball games in Cincinnati, Chicago, and Cleveland.
Students took a boat trip three miles offshore of North Carolina to the islands of Cape Lookout National Seashore, where they enjoyed 56 miles of remote beaches, the Atlantic Ocean, incredible shells, and wildlife (wild horses). The islands are undeveloped and wild: there are no paved roads, stores, bathhouses, or bridges connected to the mainland. They camped on the beach in tents in the primitive style, hiked, learned to shell, and be amazed by the ocean.
Students explored an old-growth forest and hiked to a waterfall tucked in the hills of Appalachia. They traced the origins of their daily electricity consumption as they toured a strip mine and learned about mountaintop removal practices, which are quickly obliterating the life of the region. They visited remote communities that have been flooded and contaminated due to the extraction of coal and listened to their stories and dreams to preserve their land and culture. They enjoy an evening of live music, rooted in the history of Appalachia. They also spent a day and a half giving back to the Whitesburg community by cleaning up a river and doing a building project. Leaders from Mennonite Central Committee will guided them through the week's activities and daily discussions. They slept in tents at a campground on top of Pine Mountain and spent evenings boating, hiking, and participating in group games.
Students traveled to Philadelphia for meaningful service and a taste of the city's historic and cultural life. They stayed at Crossroads Community Center, an inner-city community center in the low-income North Philly neighborhood, where they served in hands-on projects and worked with kids. They also explored the culinary delights of Philadelphia: dinner in Chinatown, Southern food accompanied by live blues at "Warmdaddy's" restaurant, and an authentic greasy Philly cheesesteak. They saw some of Philadelphia's history via horse-drawn carriage, a comedy at Temple University, and re-enacted Rocky Balboa's famous run up the art museum steps.
