Bridgewater College is hosting a Peace Corps Symposium on Sunday, Oct. 26 and Monday, Oct. 27. Both presentations will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Carter Center for Worship and Music at Bridgewater College.
Two Bridgewater College alumni will share their experiences as volunteers with the Peace Corps. Alexandria Murphy, a 2009 graduate, served three years in the education sector in Botswana, Africa. Peter Barlow, a 2004 graduate, served on Leyte Island, Philippines, in the municipality of Babatngon, from 2009-11.
Murphy spent her first two years training teachers at the primary school level on a life-skills curriculum developed by Botswana’s ministry of education. Her last year was spent training teachers on a comprehensive sexual education curriculum at a school for children with developmental disabilities.
Barlow served as an agricultural extension worker and taught biology and environmental science classes to high-school students in the mornings. In the afternoons, he worked with villagers to build fish cages and grow seaweed in the ocean to boost their economic livelihood and availability of low-cost, high-protein food.
A luncheon with Peace Corps recruiter Keely Hayes will be held at noon on Monday, Oct. 27, in the college’s Boitnott Room. Members of the local community are invited to attend. Contact Dr. Jeffrey Pierson at 540-828-5347 or Kelly Coverstone at 540-828-5399 or via email at [email protected] for the cost of the meal and other information.
The event is sponsored by the Kline Bowman Endowment for Creative Peace Building and is free and open to the public.
Bridgewater College is a private, four-year liberal arts college, located in the Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Founded in 1880, it was the state’s first private, coeducational college. Today, Bridgewater College is home to approximately 1,800 undergraduate students.