Barbara S. Brown, coordinator of the Older Adult Program at Richmond’s Peter Paul center
It’s been decades since Barbara S. Brown taught math at Richmond Public Schools’ Special Program for Academic and Creative Excellence, but creative excellence is still a driving force for her. These days, though, her students offer her a few life lessons of their own.
The theme for this year’s Older Americans Month, celebrated each May, is “Aging Unbound.” At 80, Brown exemplifies the theme. She coordinates the Older Adult Program at the Peter Paul center in Richmond’s East End, planning all the Tuesday and Thursday activities. But that’s just a job description. Her passion is helping low-income seniors explore “diverse experiences without being boxed in by expectations and stereotypes,” Brown says. “There are no limits on what we can do as we are aging. The sky’s the limit.”
Those experiences include attending a ballet at the Dominion Energy Center, trips to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, tasting foods from around the world, participating in Zumba classes and traveling to Washington, D.C., to visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture. “Many of our group have never been to these kinds of things, and they really appreciate them,” Brown says. “When you have low income, you may not have those kinds of opportunities.”
Group members participate in a chair Zumba class at Peter Paul.
The oldest of six children raised by a single mother, Brown was “low on resources growing up,” she says. She credits her high school math teacher, Ernest Parker, as being crucial to her success. He pushed her to apply to college and was delighted when she was accepted, to the point of providing her with a suitcase when he discovered she didn’t have one. She hitchhiked to Virginia Union University, where she earned a degree in mathematics. She went on to earn a master’s degree in education from Virginia Commonwealth University and began her 40-year career in education — a career that included a teaching fellowship to Japan, participation in a Russian education exchange program and service as principal at several area schools.
“Those things that opened my world came from outside of my home: scout leaders, teachers, people who gave me experiences. I’ve been lucky enough to be exposed to a lot of things, and I want to expose my seniors to experiences they may not have had. There’s the expression, ‘Live today like you are going to die tomorrow,’ but I tell them, ‘Learn today like you are going to live forever,’” she says.
The group at Peter Paul, currently about 40 adults, is open to anyone age 55 or older. Most meetings start with sharing time. “This gives the person who’s in charge that day a chance to share their talents. Whatever your talent, we are there to help perpetuate it,” Brown says.
Evelyn Rodriquez
Among the talents is Evelyn Rodriquez, an 88-year-old poet and playwright whose “Everywhere You Are: A Leopard Print Poem,” inspired by the group’s animal-print day, was read by the hosts of “Virginia This Morning” on CBS 6. “I was astonished,” says Rodriquez, who taught Spanish for 37 years. “I never thought it would go anywhere. It’s just what I do. I started writing when I was 13. I was shy, so I put down my feelings.”
Then there’s 79-year-old Carol Weaver, who plays her portable piano as the seniors join in a gospel hymn. As the music soars, Weaver closes her eyes and looks joyful. She has been playing since she was 11 years old, performing when her teacher was ill and couldn’t play for the elementary school program. Today Weaver, a retired teacher, plays for several churches in the area.
Relatively new to the program, 90-year-old Naima Richmond pulled out a book she had written and read from it. She talked about her life and writing her book. She even managed to sell a few copies to the group.
Showing a real talent for keeping the group engaged and active is Brown. “I could organize an ant colony,” she says with a chuckle.
Beyond the group, Brown’s schedule could exhaust someone decades younger. A graduate of Leadership Metro Richmond, she serves as board chair of Coming Together Virginia, a nonprofit organization focused on a vision of a “racially healed world of thriving, equitable and just communities.” She still serves as president of her Virginia Randolph High School Class of 1960, creating their newsletter and holding regular reunions. Then there are the two movie groups and three bridge clubs she attends weekly.
Brown is the very embodiment of aging unbound. The key, she says, is embracing experiences without worrying about limitations. “I think I can do everything, except maybe music,” she says. “I am trying to live my last 20 years as best I can.”
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