Greetings from the NRC.................... January 2024 | |
It seems to me that the mark of a New Year might be better at sunrise on January 1st, not midnight on December 31st. Where is the earliest sunrise in the U.S.? In the same state where the first Osher Institute was established at the University of Southern Maine. That first sunrise is about 260 miles up the coast from Biddeford, Maine, the hometown of Bernard Osher. It’s in Lubec at the West Quoddy Head Lighthouse – the exact place where the earliest sunrise can be seen daily. If you wonder why west, and not east Quoddy, you’ll need to consult a map to see that East Quoddy is some 625 kilometers drive up and east in Nova Scotia. During this first week of January, you can sleep in to see the sunrise at 7:05am at West Quoddy. But in mid-June the sunrise will wake you at 4:41am. Thomas Jefferson commissioned this lighthouse in 1808. You might even recognize its candy cane red and white stripes, a bit hard to see above, but iconic none the less.
2024 will certainly bring many new developments and changes at Osher Institutes. We hope the trend of membership re-growth continues to move us closer to our record level of 203,000 participants, pre-pandemic. We expect there will be more new OLLI directors, more new courses, events, and travel programs, along with a few new Osher NRC staffers to be announced in the coming weeks. What won’t change is the friendships, camaraderie, and community that forms and is reinforced at all 125 Osher Institutes each day.
Before the next sunrise, celebrate the New Year reading these success stories from Osher Institutes in Oregon, Idaho, Massachusetts, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Enjoy the start of the year and plan to join your friends at your local OLLI more than ever this year.
With all best wishes for a healthy and happy 2024 from the Osher NRC team,
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OLLI AT SOUTHERN OREGON UNIVERSITY
OLLI Abroad!
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Numerous Osher Institutes have staged performances over the years, but OLLI at Southern Oregon University (SOU) figuratively took to the seas for a rolling romp last fall. OLLI Abroad! was a musical written, directed, and performed by members. The show turned out to be a successful fun-raiser and fund raiser for the Institute. The five-day run had a cast of 22 who sang and danced, with a supporting team who promoted, painted, poured, photographed, choreographed, costumed, greeted, ushered, sawed, sanded, sewed, shopped, served, strung lights, labored over a hot stove, and tuned the piano.
Whether onstage, backstage, or in the audience, there was a feeling of being part of something alive, joyful, and inspiring. One OLLI member expressed the feeling well, “Wow—it was SO much fun. The script was unbelievably clever, the music and dance were energizing, and the audience was on fire for all of it.”
Tickets to the performances sold out in just four days of availability. An audience of 329 “passengers” joined the cast “on board,” ultimately raising more than $5,000 for OLLI at SOU. The entire production team enthusiastically volunteered their time, skills, and talent to this memorable and age-affirming production.
View the OLLI Abroad photo gallery or listen to the Jefferson Public Radio interview with director Cheryl Goodman-Morris and cast member Mark Goodman-Morris.
Submitted by: OLLI at the Southern Oregon University
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OLLIs AT BERKSHIRE COMMUNITY COLLEGE, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY AND WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
Connecting Students and Members Across Campus and Around the World
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Osher Institutes are known as a place of connection for members, staff, and instructors. The three OLLIs featured here also create opportunities for connection between university students and Osher Institute members. These can range from mentoring relationships to service-learning projects. Some focus on creating connections for international students new to their university and community. These opportunities for connection serve many purposes and bring about new friendships for all involved.
The purpose of OLLI at Berkshire Community College’s “Mentoring for Success Program” is to help students make ties between their academic learning and their future career goals through mentoring relationships. Osher members bring a lifetime of experience into mentoring meetings and share wisdom and advice with students. Mentors agree to meet with their mentees regularly, checking-in on schoolwork as well as discussing career plans. Mentees show improved academic performance, are more likely to graduate, and report strengthened social and professional skills. Not only do the mentors benefit from sharing their experiences, but they also learn a thing or two from the younger generation as well!
At American University, OLLI partners with the International Accelerator Program (IAP) to provide connections for masters-level international students as they transition to living in a new community and culture. The purpose of IAP is to provide international students with the supports they need to adjust to a new culture in the United States and in their university. In 2018 OLLI and IAP found themselves to be neighbors in the same building and an opportunity for collaboration became apparent. Though there is traditional mentoring happening in these partnerships, these partnerships also explore cultural and personal experiences. Pairs meet once a week and have special opportunities for dinner events and cultural outings. Partnerships also focus on conversations to help international students build English language skills.
OLLI at West Virginia University recently connected with a group of freshman students studying business to create a marketing campaign to appeal to GenXers to get them into OLLI. As part of a business communications course, the students were required to complete service-learning hours and they chose OLLI as a client to share their service with. The results of the project included new ways to think about marketing and included a Facebook reel or two.
The Osher Institute directors agree, the time spent creating and organizing these intergenerational partnerships is well spent, mutually benefiting the members, students, and the university/college community.
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Osher NRC January Webinar | |
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Mark your calendar for the first Osher NRC webinar of 2024! Held January 24th beginning at 2pm Eastern/1pm Central/noon Mountain/11am Pacific/10am in Alaska and 9am in Hawaii. This webinar is open to all staff, volunteer leaders and members within the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Network. Register for the webinar here.
Reframe Aging
We, as a society, are living longer and aging differently than we have ever done before. There is a growing movement, led by the National Center to Reframe Aging, to change the way we talk about aging so that we can reduce negativity about growing older. Ageism is pervasive, invisible, and harmful to individuals and communities; it is a major barrier to achieving long, fulfilling lives. Increasing awareness and understanding about ageism reduces our biases and helps us tell a fuller story about aging. In this webinar, learn how you can reframe the messages about aging to advance a more positive story about aging and to increase all of our chances for a long and satisfying life.
Presenters
Natalie Galucia, Natalie has a background in social work and a passion for working with older adults. She is currently the manager for the Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging. Prior to this she was a client care manager at The Key. Natalie started her career in aging as member services coordinator and then director with Village to Village Network, a national nonprofit focused on aging in place.
Nancy Morrow-Howell, Nancy currently serves as the Bettie Bofinger Brown Distinguished Professor of Social Policy at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. At the Brown School, Dr. Morrow-Howell teaches gerontology courses. As director of the university’s Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging, she promotes gerontological research and education across disciplines and schools.
If you have interest in being a presenter or have ideas for future webinars, please contact Kevin Connaughton (kevin.connaughton@northwestern.edu).
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INNOVATIVE COURSES AND CONTENT DELIVERY
Curriculum Corner
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Osher Institute at University of North Carolina Asheville
Exploring Neurographic Design
Course Length: Six Weeks
Course Instructors: Walt A-Akert and Ellen Haack
Walt is a lifelong teacher/artist who taught for 35 years in Wisconsin. He holds a graduate degree in education and has taught with OLLI since 2013. Ellen is a watercolorist and oil painter with training in neurographic art, color theory and the elements of art and principles of design.
Course Delivery: In-person/Studio Art Class
Course description: Neurographic design incorporates freeform lines connecting the conscious to the unconscious mind/inner self. Members explore and apply neurographic theory, art theory, color theory and various painting techniques to create watercolor/colored-pencil neurographic designs as inspiration for larger paintings in either oil or acrylic.
Of note: Neurographic Design is a newer theory in art therapy. This creative method stimulates new neural pathways by combining art and psychology. Neurographic Design has been recently popularized as a method to promote mindfulness and intentionality. In mental health, Neurographic art is most often used as a method to treat anxiety and depression.
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WOO-HOOS FROM THE 2023 OSHER INSTITUTES NATIONAL CONFERENCE
OLLI at Boise State University Goes to the Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial
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What is a Woo-Hoo? A Woo-Hoo is one of those wonderful, amazing, out of the box experiences at an OLLI. All Osher Institutes have the opportunity to submit and showcase their Woo-Hoo for peer Institutes at the Osher National Conference. The Woo-Hoos are shared during general sessions at the conference, and attendees vote on their favorites. The following is one of the top six winners from the 2023 Osher Institutes National Conference held in San Diego in October.
OLLI at Boise State University Goes to the Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial
The Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial in Boise is the only memorial of it's kind in the nation, and also displays the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. An important part of the Boise community, the memorial includes a bronze statue of Anne Frank, quotes from her diary etched into stone, an Attic Amphitheater, a Memorial Quotes Wall, the Rose Beal Legacy Garden, and the Marilyn Shuler Classroom for Human Rights. Normally free of cost, Osher charged $10 per person for tours of the Memorial, generating $1,000 donated to the Memorial on behalf of Osher members. This new model of Osher events is now replicated to support other historical and relevant sites toured by members, allowing Boise State to give back to their community. Finally, Marilyn Shuler, an esteemed benefactor to the Memorial, was a longtime and devoted Osher member who did so many good works in the Boise area and is now a household name.
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CAREER OPENINGS IN THE OLLI NETWORK
Job Board
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National Resource Center for Osher Institutes, Northwestern University
Wieboldt Hall, Sixth Floor, 339 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611
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