HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYONE! |
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- President's Message
- Tis the Season
- Spring Semester!
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- Zoom Works Fine
- Special Event Recap
- Needy Fund
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The ALL Office at Cape Cod Community College is closed temporarily.
Feel free to contact us:
E-mail: lifelonglearning@capecod.edu
Telephone 774-330-4400 (please leave a message)
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This being the season of giving thanks for the blessings of the year, I can express appreciation and heartfelt gratitude for many things including some wonderful and special friendships with members of ALL. While there have also been too many friends dying recently, I am very gratified that I knew them as friends at all. In this category I put Lee Pledger, who passed away on November 21 in Arizona. Lee was an enthusiastic volunteer and ALL board member for a number of years, including chair of the communications committee. Many will remember her helping people while she was on duty at the Desk.
My last few letters have mentioned how we will continue to be all‑Zoom in the spring 2022 semester, with the possibility of some in‑person classes next fall (2022). A number of members have expressed dismay at the lack of opportunities for face‑to‑face personal contact, and I and the rest of the board fully appreciate this. I will probably get a lot of flak, but I must remind people that the idea of returning to in‑person classes at CCCC in the fall of 2022 is our current expectation. It is still only a plan and has not been approved by the COVID gods. A lot has happened on the COVID front in the last six months, both good and bad, and there is little reason to think that the next few months will provide more clarity.
On a more upbeat note, and on behalf of the ALL Board of Directors, I extend our wishes for a healthy, happy, and safe holiday season to all our members, coordinators, and friends, even though it is indeed unfortunate that we need to include the word "safe” again this year.
Jim Lathrop
ALL President
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From the Hospitality Committee |
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We wish all our members a wonderful holiday season and hope you enjoy time with your family and friends. These are the special times when family memories are shared and new ones are made. Unfortunately, we will not be hosting our annual holiday party this year but hope that we will meet in the spring at the Cape Codder Resort and Spa for our spring party. Cheers!
Dianne Tattersall
Chair, Hospitality Committee
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Looking Forward to the Spring 2022 Semester |
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Get Ready for Spring Registration |
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From the Registration Committee:
***Spring Semester begins January 31***
Registration opens January 10
The catalog will be sent via email soon, and will also be posted on our website www.capecodall.org.
Be sure to check your email inbox.
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Jean DeVincentis
Chair, Registration Committee
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From the Curriculum Committee:
We wish you a very happy holiday season and a healthy new year. You will be receiving your online Spring 2022 ALL Catalog in late December. We are excited to present many new choices and older favorites for you to enjoy. Please mail your registration forms directly to ALL at the Cape Cod Community College address on the registration form.
Miriam Kronish
Chair, Curriculum Committee
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Zoom Works Just Fine
For Many ALL Coordinators
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This continues an ongoing series of stories about Academy for Lifelong Learning coordinators and classes. Please let us know If you have a course or coordinator you would like to see featured. |
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Pat Stover’s career has been in adult and community education and feminist activism. In addition, she is a passionate lifelong gardener.
Her first class for ALL was "The History of the Women’s Movement." She moved on to look at classics of literature, like Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice, from a feminist perspective.
Nancy Weida, currently the ALL office administrator, was a student in Pat's class, and they happily became co-coordinators in two courses on the evolving roles of women in television. Pat took a hiatus for three years to do other volunteer work. She returned in the fall of 2021 to coordinate a new subject near and dear to her heart, "Garden Literature - Reading and Writing about the Garden."
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I came to the idea of coordinating a class on Zoom with trepidation! Last year I was ready to come back to ALL as a coordinator but then the pandemic happened. I took a few classes but certainly didn’t feel ready to manage a Zoom class. Then when the pandemic continued on and it was Zoom or nothing, I took the plunge and ended up being pleasantly surprised at what could be achieved in that format.
Two of the most important ingredients in an ALL class for me are the sharing of one’s own unique experience and the group discussion. I had concern about how that would work on Zoom. We’ve probably all had experiences in Zoom gatherings where everyone talked at once and constantly interrupted one another! But the training provided by tech support guru Marilyn Nouri was excellent and gave us guidelines like having a few ground rules on taking turns and raising hands that really worked. Plus, class members pooled their tech experience to help out - we all wanted this to work!
As the weeks went by, my anxiety about managing the Zoom format diminished and instead of worrying that I’d make a terrible mistake, I found myself so looking forward to being with the group again. As to whether class members found the Zoom experience satisfying, I will quote a few of them:
“What neither you nor this gathering of smart, lovely garden ladies could possibly know is that this class has unlocked a place within me that has been held at bay for a very long time, a place of trust to include myself within a group of unknown individuals. A person, or group of individuals, may never know the complete and perhaps totally unrelated but equally positive impact that they have had on another. Therefore, when it happens to me, I always make my sincere gratitude known.”
In response to the message above, which I shared with the class, another class member wrote: “I hate Zoom, I hate Zoom, I hate Zoom and how it has taken over social relationships UNTIL I read a message like yours and then I realize how it has renewed, strengthened and expanded my social relations at a time when isolation was (is) such a continuing threat to our health.”
And another: “I was anxious about a Zoom class but it was a highlight of my week.”
And yet another: “I actually enjoy the Zoom format, particularly with a smaller group. It's so convenient since you don't have to get in the car, worry about getting to class on time, etc. But I would also like to meet everyone in person at some point - that aspect is frustrating.”
As to the meeting in person, we all missed that aspect of an ALL class and have pledged to gather in person, when it is safe to do so, in one of our gardens in the spring. I’m looking forward to that!
Pat Stover
ALL Coordinator
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In Case You Missed the November Special Event
“The Truth is not Obvious – The Obvious is not True”
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Sydney Lamb returned to ALL via Zoom for a Special Event on November 1, 2021. Prior to moving from Cape Cod, Syd was an involved member of ALL — serving on the board, being chair of Long-range Planning, and coordinating classes. He offered two types of classes; one on topics related to music, the other on neurocognitive accounts of linkages between linguistics and the brain.
Syd was a Professor of Linguistics at Rice University.
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Sydney Lamb returned to ALL via Zoom this fall and gave a presentation based on his forthcoming book, in which he explains his stratificational approach to language understanding to the lay person. Key to that approach is the statement, “The truth is not obvious, the obvious is not true.” To illustrate his point, he describes the thinking that the world is flat (obvious), when, in fact, it is learned that the world is round (not obvious). Syd presented many more examples.
His theoretical approach to understanding is too complex to summarize here, but basically, he is arguing in favor of mentalism which claims that perception is entirely in our minds. “When we are perceiving anything, we are actually experiencing only our mental activity.” For anyone interested in learning more, he has two books out on the topic, Pathways to the Mind, and Pathways to the Brain.
A lively session of questions and answers followed his presentation.
Marilyn Nouri
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Cape Cod Times Needy Fund |
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Consider giving to the Cape Cod Times Needy Fund
It has been a December ALL tradition to collect donations for the Cape Cod Times Needy Fund, a tax-exempt 501(c)3 organization. This fund provides financial assistance to Cape Cod residents who need help with housing, utilities, food, medical bills, etc. Those helped by the Needy Fund do not receive cash; payments are made directly to vendors through a voucher system. If you need assistance or are aware of someone who needs assistance call the Needy Fund at 508‑778‑5661 or 800‑422‑1446.
Before Zoom entered our lives, we collected donations in our ALL classrooms and also had a donation box in the office. Since we cannot facilitate collecting in-person donations at this time, we hope members will do so on their own.
Donations can be made online by visiting their website:
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or by mailing a check to
Cape Cod Times Needy Fund
PO Box 36
Hyannis MA 02601
Our members have been very generous in the past, and we hope you will consider supporting the Needy Fund this year.
Dianne Tattersall
Hospitality Committee
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Happy New Year, Everyone ! |
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ALLways Welcomes Comments and
Suggestions about the Newsletter
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CHECK YOUR E-MAILS OFTEN.
THE ALL OFFICE IS TEMPORARILY CLOSED.
Please address your comments or suggestions to lifelonglearning@capecod.edu
We appreciate all our readers, with special thanks to ALL members who contribute their articles and photographs to our newsletters.
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Academy for Lifelong Learning of Cape Cod, Inc.
Cape Cod Community College
2240 Iyannough Rd
West Barnstable, Massachusetts 02668
774-330-4400
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