Can Old Dogs Learn New Tricks?
Learning Never Ends is a one night event of evening classes for adults from the community. The event takes place AHS North campus. The evening consists of 14 classes dense in learning material that is free to attend. There are 17-18 Arrowhead teachers total volunteered to teach a topic of their choice. LNE takes place Wednesday, March 25th.
Every class is offered free of charge and a full list of classes and teachers are available on Arrowhead’s main site as well as a registration form.
Joseph Paul, a social studies teacher at Arrowhead, created LNE last year after seeing the success a friend had on a similar event called Learning In Retirement in Door County.
Learning Never Ends at Arrowhead was created for, according to Paul, “teachers who enjoyed teaching a topic but did not get a chance to teach it because the students are not as interested. Adults who are interested in things and teachers who are passionate about a topic that they really do not get a chance to teach it at school.”
Jennifer Charles, a North campus Spanish teacher, says her class last year, Basic Social Dancing, had 25 people in attendance.
“Teaching adults differs from teaching tean-agers because adults aren’t used to learning anymore, so its fun to get them back into that mind set,” says Charles.
Charles takes frequent dance lessons herself with a partner and together they are teaching a LNE dancing class.
“My dance partner will be teaching at the event with me,” says Charles. “Together we will be teaching the Rhumba and the Push-pull because they cover lots of moves that work for many songs.”
Jennifer Passler, an English teacher at Arrowhead, is teaching a Meditation and Mindfulness class.
Passler has a personal practice with the study of Reiki, which is, according to Reiki.org, “a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by ‘laying on hands’ and is based on the idea that an unseen life force energy flows through us and is what causes us to be alive.”
“I will be sharing meditation on a very informal basis,” said Passler.
“Mindfulness helps us to remember to just do one thing at a time and focus on the present,” says Passler. “It’s not a brain science. It’s just a time to be aware and be with yourself.”
Paul’s topic of the night, Clash of the Titans: The Eastern Front in World War II, focuses on the “massive struggle in Eastern Europe” that is not talked or heard about in America. He will focus on the battles between the Soviet Union and Germany.
“Teachers get the opportunity to talk about something that they really enjoy and are passionate about and they get to present it to students [adult students] who are eager and excited to be there. The teachers can have that magical moment. And the adult can gain education on a topic they like to learn about,” said Paul.
Chris Herriot, a social studies and psychology teacher, will be teaching a class on gun safety for WOMEN ONLY. He says last year he taught a similar class, but it was mostly males who partook in the class.
“I think having the class open to just women will make more women join,” says Hariot. “Last year the class was mostly male dominated and conversations were mostly led by the men. I think doing it this way will provide a more open environment for the women.”
Learning Never Ends is created to, “rediscover a joy in learning,” said Paul.