Jefferson Scholar Activities

The Jeffersons take a field trip each semester, visiting sites of either historical, cultural, or scientific interest. Every couple of years we visit Washington, D.C. to speak with members of our Congressional delegation and to visit museums and federal institutions. We also periodically visit Thomas Jefferson's home at Monticello (below), and sites such as the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton, Virginia, and Biltmore House in Asheville, NC.  Ecological field trips in our region have included Linville Gorge, Roan Mountain, the Jefferson National Forest in Virginia, the North Carolina seacoast, the Gulf Stream off the Carolina coast, and camping at other regional sites of biological interest. On our trips we often try to take some opportunity to get "behind the scenes," such as our tour of the National Zoo on our Fall trip to DC.

We also get together for local fun, such as going to hear Friday night bluegrass music at the Bynum General Store, dinners together, tailgating for CALS events at the games, or getting together with Honduran students visiting NC State, and an annual Spring Banquet. We are active with service projects, including Service Raleigh, volunteer work-days at the Carnivore Preservation Trust (above), working at the Food Bank of NC, and helping at various service agencies or projects in the Triangle. Our biggest project was helping to collect, organize, pack, and ship thousands of donated books to the national university in Moldova.