The Adventure Leadership Immersion Experience in Nature (A.L.I.E.N.) has already taken campus by storm. Dr. Nick DeLangie and Dr. Chris Harrist, in collaboration with Brad Turley of Southern Eighths Farm and the CCG, have focused on the connection between space, resource conservation, people, leadership, and community service.

A.L.I.E.N. unofficially began when the group conducted a one-day pilot program in the fall of 2019. Seven Wingate students volunteered to participate in a leadership development experience held on Turley's 1500 acre land. Dating back to the early 1800s as a critical Civil War position, the group learned about the history and significance of the land, including its flora and fauna from expert naturalist Mr. David Harper.

Students - working in groups - practiced observational cartography to plot routes on the property; built hut shelters out of forest materials intended to provide housing; and reflected on their experience, both as a large group and as individuals.

After a successful pilot study, Harrist and DeLangie created a special topics course at Wingate University to provide students with an opportunity to develop a full, three-day outdoor immersion experience utilizing outcome-based programming that focused on:

• Communication
• Creativity
• Collaboration
• Leadership

They did this by working with Turley, gaining insight into his goals for the property and by spending time at Southern Eighths Farm in guided discussions and workshop sessions. After collaboration between Harrist and DeLangie, their students, and Turley, a final A.L.I.E.N. program was developed to deliver an immersive, transformative experience. This August some of these same students will be testing their work at Southern 8ths (with excellent COVID19 protocols in place) and then we are 'open for business' -- any student group, leadership team, class, or community partner that would like to partake in this unique leadership program is welcome to apply!

Check out this flyer for ALIEN Program and if you are already excited to sign up, use this Google Form Link to request a date to visit Southern Eighths!

Stay tuned for more on A.L.I.E.N.; read more about the program and its development on the CCG website; or email Nick DeLangie at nick@wingate.edu to learn more. Also, find Nick's podcast episode - along with our others - on iTunes and Spotify (linked below).

This fall begins our first official semester of the CCG Apprenticeship program - and we could not be more excited to make it happen!

The CCG Executive Board is thrilled to announce our first three apprentices:

• Rawson plans to build a service-learning approach to her "Race, Sexuality, and the Bible" course in which students will learn about religion, philosophy, and theology. The goal is for students to partner with community members employed in students' respective field of interest. This partnership will allow students to learn from their community partner’s experiences, to collaboratively research current issues in their field, and to work toward developing and implementing programs to address inequity and injustice within the field.
• Lail's goal is to build an entirely new course centered on serving working families at tax time. This internship-style course will train students to do tax returns and in partnership with Union County government and the VITA Program, they will aid families in successfully navigating the often complicated world of tax returns. His hope is that this service learning course will become a regularly offered course in the school of business.
• Last - but not least - Kaufman intends to add service learning to her Global Perspectives in Politics & Economics courses to improve her students' learning of course content through real world application and to get student involved in community-engaged work early in their college experience. Her goal is to have students use their knowledge from the course to aid local organizations in tackling community issues such as environmental concerns, public health, food security, and economic development.

Learn more about their apprenticeships by following their journey throughout the 2020-2021 academic year!

One of our first community partners to join our CCG Podcast Against the Grain was Kelly Shepherd Watts, Executive Director at Trinity Wellness Community Outreach - a nonprofit organization holistically supporting single mothers in creating economic success by participating in coaching services for life, health, wealth, and homeownership.

Kelly Shepherd Watts is a dynamic, engaging, and absolutely fascinating woman who has worked hard to help single mothers lead successful lives. Having met various CCG members in the past two years, Watts has recently teamed up with the CCG - and several university professors - to develop portions of her Coaching Program for Single Mothers. Students and faculty will work with Watts and her team to develop and facilitate portions of their financial workshops, helping mothers with budgeting, planning, and overall financial literacy. In addition, students can learn the ins - and outs - of creating and applying for various grants; conducting research, particularly on program impact; and, of course, build lasting and memorable connections with Trinity Wellness Community Outreach members and clients!

Learn more about Trinity Wellness at their website here, or read their mission statement and vision:

MISSION:

To operate as a nonprofit organization that will support single mothers by removing barriers to economic success through strengthening workforce development, financial literacy skills, coaching them past negative societal outputs, guiding them to a pathway of economic mobility and housing stability while creating changes in belief systems to impact their entire community.

VISION:

To see participants more confident in providing for their families by completing the program with secured employments, great workplace ethics, better financial habits and on a path to stable housing or homeownership.

If you would like to get involved with Trinity Wellness and their amazing work, you can contact Kelly Shepherd Watts at k.watts@trinitywellnesscc.com or reach out to us at ccg@wingate.edu

Find Nick's and Kelly's podcast episodes - along with our others - on iTunes and Spotify, or click the link for Apple Podcasts below!

Want to join us on an episode of Against the Grain? Sign up for a time that works for you at this link.

Unsure of how to start your own project? Want to join in on an already-running project? Reach out to us at the following link to complete our CCG Interest Form: https://forms.gle/7aqxTzqrhmEDr8Rp7

Want to learn more or join the CCG? There are various ways to get in touch with us - we would love to hear from you!

Email: ccg@wingate.edu
Website: https://www.wingate.edu/around-campus/common-good
Location: 102 West Wilson Street, Wingate, NC, USA
Phone: 7042338067
Facebook: facebook.com/CCGWingate
Twitter: @CCGWingate