Lifelong Learning Thursday

Nancy Merz Nordstrom, author of Learning Later, Living Greater: The Secret of Making the Most of Your After 50 Years will share the benefits of Lifelong Learning on Thursdays.

LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER:

The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years.

Lifelong Learning in Your Later Years…

A Health Club for Your Mind, Body, and Spirit!

The validation of lifelong learning by philanthropic and civic organizations speaks volumes as to the importance of continuing to learn. If you’re still wondering about the value of later-life learning, here are two interesting examples.

The state of Mississippi, in recognizing the value and importance of lifelong learning for older adults, has developed a program called Certified Retirement Cities. In order to receive this designation there are certain requirements that must be met, chief among them the availability of high quality, educational and cultural opportunities for older adults. Therefore, the lifelong learning programs found in these Certified Retirement Cities are outstanding examples of later-life learning venues, which are prominently featured in all the State’s retirement and relocation literature. Texas has also begun a similar initiative, and several other states are reviewing it as well.

We’ve mentioned before that the Bernard Osher Foundation gives $100,000 grants to lifelong learning programs around the country. They started this initiative in Maine, where a number of senior colleges were already in operation. The funding has made a huge difference to the programs already established and to the new ones that have been started thanks to these extra funds. Maine now has a state-wide network of lifelong learning programs coordinated through the University of Southern Maine in Portland. Not only do the programs share their talent and resources, they also meet once a year to trade ideas, get to know each other better, and promote lifelong learning. It’s a wonderful program that brings the concept, benefits and opportunities of later-life learning to far-flung Mainers, many of whom live at a distance from the larger population areas.

You can certainly say that lifelong learning has arrived and is getting stronger every single day.

THURSDAY’S THOUGHT…
Rabbi Harry Sky, the founder of the Senior College movement in Maine, says, “As long as the mind is stimulated, the body will flourish.” There is no doubt that lifelong learning helps keep our minds stimulated, our bodies active and our spirits flourishing.

For more information on Learning Later, Living Greater visit www.learninglater.com

You can purchase Learning Later, Living Greater at www.amazon.com

Till Next Time…

Nancy Merz Nordstrom is Director of the Lifelong Learning Department at Computer School for Seniors (www.cs4seniors.com)