Shepherd’s Center of Richmond Executive Director Julie Adams-Buchanan stands in front of Gene Anderson’s music appreciation class, held on Mondays. (Photo by Jay Paul)
Some come to debate controversies in the early Christian church; some want to discuss the evolution of modern jazz in the 1940s; others want to brush up on their German, Japanese or even Latin.
It’s not a typical college environment, but the sessions at Open University offer an older generation the chance to learn — or teach — the subjects they’ve long dreamed of.
The Shepherd’s Center of Richmond, part of a nationwide organization of nonprofits that encourage independence and engagement among older adults, has organized semesters of adult education classes for most of its 40 years in Richmond. Intended for seniors and retirees, the Open University holds 16-20 classes in eight-week sessions each winter, spring and summer.
Peter Pettit, president of the organization’s board of directors, first came to the Richmond chapter by signing up for a German class. After that, he took a course in military aviation history, another on historical American architecture. He eventually joined the nonprofit’s other major effort, its volunteer driver program, which provides seniors with rides to and from essential services. From there, he entered a leadership role.
“Because of the people we attract, the content that we offer is very rich,” Pettit says. “It’s retirees looking for things to do that are satisfying and mutually beneficial.”
Courses are held on weekdays in church facilities around Richmond, and all courses are available to the public for $80 tuition, which is discounted to $50 with a $25 annual membership. They host a free lecture series on Wednesdays, where guests speak about their passions or personal experiences in an educational setting.
The opportunity for older adults to learn in a new field, separate from their career path, keeps the course catalog diverse. “We have a place where you can actually try out those passions that you’ve had,” says Julie Adams-Buchanan, the center’s executive director.
While some volunteer teachers — many of whom are older adults themselves — have a background in education, others come from varied careers and build courses based on their hobbies or passions. “[Some] people don’t want to do what they did in their career,” Adams-Buchanan says. “They want to do something new.”
Meriah Crawford, who has taught a memoir writing course for the organization for several years after speaking in the organization’s lecture series, appreciates the connections she makes with her students. “The most important person in my life was my grandmother,” Crawford says. “Having that interaction with seniors has a lot of meaning for me because of that.”
Crawford also emphasizes the physical and mental benefits students get from advanced education courses. “It can help with psychological distress, and it can help with physical pain,” she says. “It is literally making their life better, and they tell me that. … To me, that’s an enormous treasure.”
The Shepherd Center’s spring semester began April 1 and runs until May 23; the summer semester starts in June. Registration is available on tscor.org.
