FBRA lends a hand and enters the "GeoDome"

Students sort through donated clothes at the Western Carolina Rescue Missions Thrift StoreLast Wednesday, students and staff visited the Western Carolina Rescue Mission thrift store to help sort clothes and support the mission's efforts to help others in need.  The visit was the first in a series of activities related to FBRA's service learning curriculum.  Afterwards, students reflected on the experience and discussed why service to others is important and how contributing to the betterment of society ties into the academy's mission of "building character and integrity in young men for a lifetime of learning and service." 

FBRA then spent the afternoon at the North Carolina Arboretum, where students experienced the "GeoDome"...a multimedia educational tool that allows participants to explore the earth, universe, and, of course, the French Broad River and the surrounding watershed.  Students were given an opportunity to "drive" the GeoDome and travel throughout the galaxy and the flood plains of the French Broad.The GeoDome-a multimedia presentation tool

Students then hiked to Bent Creek where the Arboretum's Outreach Education Coordinator Ben Colvin demonstrated how to determine pH and nitrogen levels in the creek.  The group also collected various aquatic specimens such as salamanders and mayflies.