Generation Peace Academy 2016/17

BARRYTOWN – September means the start of another year for Generation Peace Academy (GPA) at the Barrytown Conference Center. GPA, a program which provides young people with an outstanding opportunity to develop character and start gaining leadership skills,  begins every year with a kick-off program at Barrytown and finishes up there the following June with a closing ceremony and celebration.

GPA mostly draws high school graduates who spend a year or two in the program before moving on to college or other activities, though a small number will continue in leadership positions on GPA for a third and even a fourth year.

Louise Honey, Program Development Manager for GPA, calls the Barrytown Conference Center the group’s “home base.”

“We always begin our kickoff workshop at Barrytown,” said Louise. “We start and end our program here. We kind of consider it our ‘home base.’ We’ve been working out of the Barrytown Conference Center for 10 years or more.

“It really has all of the elements that we need: the lecture hall, the sports field, the environment, the trails. Everything we need for the program that we’re doing.”

On Sunday, September 11, 2016, Continental Director of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) in North America, Dr. Ki Hoon Kim (UTS’96), spoke to the group, assuring them that their choice to come to GPA was a very crucial decision that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.

The GPA group of 2016-17 travelled to Washington, D.C. on September 17 to support the 40th anniversary celebration of the Washington Monument Rally, which originally took place on September 18, 1976 in the nation’s capital.

“GPA strives to help build a better world by preparing the leaders of tomorrow. Experiential learning provides the opportunity to stimulate character development, a heart to lead through service and an emphasis on developing faith and spiritual discipline.”