News Release

Cumorah Academy: "Part of Something Good"

Young Adults experience live building opportunities in a fun environment

Young adult members of the Church in Europe face many challenges.  They want personal experiences that help them understand who they are, what their potential is, and how to build a life and career.  They are afforded an opportunity to do this through the Cumorah Academy. Cumorah Academy is a non-profit foundation that is located near Prague in the Czech Republic.  Furthermore, Cumorah has been designated as a Community Outreach Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Its programs are run in harmony with the teachings and practices of the Church.

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Cumorah Academy student Valentin at the Paris Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 2022 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Valentin is a 29-year-old student from Paris who enrolled at Cumorah Academy in 2021 for the Fall Semester.  When this member of the rising generation speaks about Cumorah Academy, one can sense his motivation and interest in life.

In December, Valentin finished his three-month Cumorah semester, attending classes intended to help him prepare for day-to-day life, such as Business, Work Skills, Public Speaking and English. Other classes focus on emotional, intellectual, and spiritual preparation, such as Leadership, Religion, Self-reliance, and Family Relations. On top of his class work, Valentin’s enthusiasm moved him to help organize Yoga sessions and daily study in the Holy Scriptures with his classmates, and other extracurricular activities. What motivated him to help? He said, “I was glad to be involved, to feel part of something good.” This reaction is strengthened by attending classes together and in socializing after class with faculty and classmates who come from across Europe. 

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Four students in a discussion at the Cumorah Academy2022 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Gabriel and Catalina have been married five years. She has a degree in computer Science, and he has an MBA. Despite this academic preparation, they wanted to learn more about risk taking, and understand their next steps towards the future. The practical experience of the faculty, combined with the close social interaction with the other participants helped them be more confident in all interactions in business, Church and other social situations. Catalina and Gaby appreciated mixing with singles and married couples their same age. The connections and interactions over the previous three months helped their confidence and sense of well-being. With the course’s focus on practical life steps, they feel ready now to implement the life plan they made at Cumorah, having rubbed shoulders with mentors and peers who have faced, or are facing the same issues of balancing ethics, family, business, and devotion to God.

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Catalina and Gabriel, a young Romanian couple, who came to Cumorah Academy to prepare for their future. 2022 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Cumorah Academy is located in a conference center and hotel about 75 kilometers southeast of Prague. It owns the adjacent farm, where students can work, and has an on-campus pool, gym and eating facilities.  This makes Cumorah self-contained, providing everything the students need. Cumorah does not award university degrees but does provide certificates for completing courses. With students from across Europe, the common language of the Academy is English, therefore, the ability to read and write English is necessary. This helps Cumorah students to prepare to pass certified English proficiency tests, adding value to their resumés. 

Many of the students are enrolled in BYU-Pathway or BYU-Idaho, a Church related school, and receive credit for these classes. Some students are enrolled in other online educational course work.  These, students can continue online classes or work at their on-line job while at Cumorah Academy and still enjoy an on-campus experience. In addition to week-day class work and casual socializing “on campus,” there are regular group weekend trips for service projects or cultural activities. Students and faculty hope that this experience will translate into increased readiness for future jobs.

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Cumorah-Academy-04
Cumorah Academy is held at this hotel in the Czech countryside near Načeradec 2022 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Cumorah Academy encourages young people between 18 and 30 interested in growing, learning, and preparing to apply for this one semester program. Members and non-members of the Church who are willing to abide by Church standards both on and off campus during their stay are welcome at Cumorah Academy.  Cumorah provides room and board for the semester, as well as numerous activities.  Students are asked to contribute to the cost as their means allow.  However because of generous donors, no student will ever be denied the opportunity to attend because of finances.  More information is available at https://cumorahacademy.org.

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