The Jackson Family Center for Ethics and Values sponsors a Summer Ethics Academy for rising Horry County sixth-grade students each year.  Fifth grade teachers, in collaboration with the schools’ principals, nominate students who display leadership among their classmates for participation in the Academy.  Neither grades nor social status influence the nomination, as it is based solely on the student’s leadership capabilities. 

     The Summer Ethics Academy is offered at no cost to the students, and transportation is provided for the Jackson Junior Scholars.  There are two sessions of the Summer Ethics Academy, and 27-33 students from 15 area schools attend each session.  Each session lasts for four days and is held on Coastal Carolina University’s campus in July. 

     The activities of the four-day Academy are as follows:

• During the first three days of the Academy, the Jackson Junior Scholars will participate in morning discussions, in which they will discuss ethical dilemmas based on situations drawn from their daily experience.

• Once the morning discussion is finished, the Junior Scholars will eat lunch, and in the afternoon they participate in a physical activity available on campus, such as swimming.

• On the fourth day of the Academy, all of the participants, directors, and counselors are taken to Ocean Lakes Campground, where the participants meet with the Jackson family and give a presentation of what they have learned.  These presentations are in the form of original plays, artwork, and songs.

     The Summer Ethics Academy is co-directed by Renee Smith and Julinna Oxley, who are faculty members of the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Coastal Carolina University.  The counselors for the program are the Jackson Scholars and other CCU students. 

     View pictures from Summer Ethics Academy 2005 and Summer Ethics Academy 2006.