|
Senior News March, 2005 Vol. 24. No. 3
Published by the Humboldt Senior Resource Center in Eureka, California. HSRC is a non-profit community-based organization offering services for senior citizens, multi-generational families and caregivers.
|
|
|
Humboldt Senior Resource Center Back issues Table of Contents
Plus in this issue catch more news, opinions, features, book reviews, and event calendars.
Pick up a copy today! Better yet, subscribe and never miss an issue! Brought to you by 
|
Lifelong learning Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and the Over-60 Program are both now available by Barbara Clark
Humboldt County becomes ever richer as a place to grow older - and to learn new tricks and share our expertise while we're doing it. There is a new opportunity for learning, teaching and taking classes on campus and around the area - but it's an addition and not a detraction from the ever-growing Over-60 Program at HSU. The HSU Office of Extended Education has hired Cheryl Johnson to head up its Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), and classes have already begun. The local OLLI is one of 48 such campuses across the United States with initial grants from the Bernard Osher Foundation for $300,000 to get the ball rolling. Osher, a California businessman, started OLLIs in 1977 by promoting health care education among people 50 and older. His mission, Johnson explained, was to form peer learning communities. "People 50 and older make up the classes, find the teachers, and teach the classes, both on and off campus," Johnson said. Students have already enjoyed a local art tour, are now taking a class called Wild About Birds; and a culinary arts tour is scheduled. Others will be scheduled for the summer months, from one-evening short classes to day-long or several-week-long classes. Johnson will be offering focus groups in March and April to gather ideas about what kinds of classes people want to take or teach. See the schedule on page 3. "OLLI has no credit, no tests, no grades, no papers," she said. "It is just for the love of learning." The pricing at HSU's program will be different from other areas. In San Francisco an annual membership fee of $195 lets members take three classes on the schedule for free. Here, Johnson said, it's a lower income community, and the membership will be set at a much more modest level with a modest charge for each class. It does have to generate its ongoing funding sources after the three-year grant is completed. Members will get a student ID card with all its privileges of local discounts, bus rides and library use. Johnson brings strong experience as a career coach to her position as OLLI coordinator. A former faculty member in psychology at both CR and HSU, she was a career counselor at HSU for 13 years. Over-60 Program The new program doesn't change the college's Over-60 Program which permits anyone in the community older than 60 to take regular HSU classes for only $6 a semester, said Kathryn Corbett. She is HSU professor emerita in sociology, social work and women's studies, a program she founded in the early 1970s. She also was one of the original leaders and is still the strongest advocate of the Over-60 Program. To her, the biggest difference in the programs is that in the Over-60 Program, older students are in the same classrooms as regular students; and it is important for all the ages to be mixed together. "Because we are living in different worlds," Corbett explained, "it is important to learn to converse with one another. We're building one America together." She can cite story after story of gray-haired students becoming a magnet in classes and the cafeteria for young people to pour out their stories to. "The college kids have been wonderful in accepting the Over-60 students," she said. Corbett and fellow Over-60 coordinator Joan Carpenter hosted a discussion at a back table in The Depot, the large cafeteria in the Student Center on campus. They were there every Wednesday in February, and people could come to their table and have casual or pointed discussions about the Over-60 program. They discussed problems of registration, the need for help in registering, the difficulty of walking around on the hilly campus and the endless issue of parking. But overall, they were a staunch and grateful support group for the 182 people now enrolled in HSU classes. Corbett explained one misunderstanding about the program - Over-60 students don't take a classroom space away from a paying student. They only are seated in a classroom with available seats for which the professor is already being paid, she said. They, too, receive a student ID card. Another difference in the program is that Over-60 students can matriculate and enroll for degree programs at HSU - for the same $6 a semester. It is still the best reason in my mind for retiring to Humboldt County. Barbara Clark is editor of Senior News. OLLI focus groups Come help create HSU's OLLI. Attend one of these focus groups to share your ideas. •Tuesday, March 8, 10 a.m. or Monday, March 21, 2 p.m. at the Humboldt Area Foundation Community Center, 373 Indianola Rd. Info: 442-2993. •Wednesday, March 30, 10 a.m. or Tuesday, April 5, 10 a.m. at the Humboldt Senior Resource Center, 1910 California Street, Eureka. Call Cheryl Johnson, OLLI coordinator, at 826-3743 to get more information or to get on the mailing list. |
Senior News
