Dr. Palmer’s Update: October 2011

October is a beautiful time in Elsah and St. Louis. The College boasts terrific bluff views and early fall color along the entrance road. The School campus is dotted with mums and pumpkins as we welcome parents for Upper School Family Weekend.

Autumn Session is just wrapping up an invigorating and inspiring two-week session for adult students at the College. I’ve enjoyed seeing adults throughout the campus learning alongside current students. Meanwhile, musical performances are taking place this week at both the School and College, and athletics are in full swing.

Throughout the month, dignitaries from around the globe will be coming and going for special events. On October 20, Rose Mapendo, a Congolese genocide survivor and the 2009 United Nations Humanitarian of the Year, will speak at the College. The next two days bring the Pan-African Conference, focusing on “Institutional Reform in Africa: The Role of the Youth in a Changing Continent” and bringing speakers from near and far.

On October 27 and 28, the Euphrates Institute is holding a summit—“Our World Beyond 9/11”—on the College campus. More than a dozen speakers, including the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iran and the head of the Arab American Institute, will take global stock a decade after 9/11. The most recent Principia Chat featured Euphrates Institute Director Janessa Gans Wilder sharing details about the upcoming summit and the College’s partnership with Euphrates. If you missed the live program on Principia Internet Radio (PIR), listen to the podcast or view video highlights.

The School community is coming together next week for its first-ever all-School walk-a-thon. Students, faculty, and staff are gathering pledges and walking in support of the Middle School renovation project. Our Middle and Lower schoolers are reaping the benefits of the improvements completed thus far as they enjoy using the newly renovated library and art room. The rest of the project, scheduled to begin this summer pending funding, will bring more classroom updates and progress. If you’d like to donate toward the effort, you can give through click-a-gift.

Ten members of the College solar car team are now in Australia, preparing to compete in the World Solar Challenge for the third time. From October 16­–23, the team will race almost 2,000 miles from Darwin to Adelaide. Check out their website for a glimpse of the car, Ra 7s, or to track its progress by satellite. Tune in to PIR for live, 30-minute broadcasts at 4 p.m. (central time) each day during the race.

It’s remarkable to see our students embrace the challenge of competing against top engineering schools and overcoming obstacles with grace and expansive love. I often think Principians have a bit of an unfair advantage—and these students really use it by studying the Bible Lesson early every morning and living the Christly example through willingness to loan car parts or help other teams make fixes when needed. These students are the best global ambassadors Principia could have! Stay tuned for details of their adventures “down under.”

If you missed Principia’s initial online enrichment classes offered in the spring, you have another chance this month. Four-week courses on the book of Hebrews, the Arab Spring, and Founding Fathers “Tom, Ben, and Alex” begin October 24. The Bible course is already fully subscribed again this session. Click here for more information or to register for the other two classes.

As you can see, there’s a whirlwind of activity happening all across Principia. At this time of year, it sometimes feels as though everything is happening at once. In those moments, I remind myself to pause and express gratitude. As Principia founder Mary Kimball Morgan advises, “It is a matter for the deepest gratitude that we know not only that God gives us our work but that He supplies the intelligence, the strength, the wisdom, the power, and the grace to accomplish it” (Education at The Principia, p. 67).