Always Learning/Always Teaching

News & Events

Posted Dec 08, 2011

It’s a well-established truth at Friendship Village that our residents never cease wanting to learn. Taking that a step further, we’ve observed that many of our residents never stop wanting to teach or share their experiences and knowledge. Earlier this fall, Friendship Village announced the inception of its In House Schoolhouse Program. The series of weekly sessions covering a wide variety of topics is conducted by residents of Friendship Village with specialized expertise in their respective topic. “It’s such a great thing, using the residents of Friendship Village as resources. We have so many residents with incredible knowledge, backgrounds and life experiences,” said Jeannette Magdaleno, lifelong learning coordinator for Friendship Village.

In-House School House was initiated by Henry Acres. The resident of Friendship Village is a retired professor of English at Hofstra University in New York. Henry was also the founder of the Institute of Learning in Retirement at Cedar Crest College; an initiative which eventually drew 500 subscribers and from which the In House Schoolhouse was modeled. His philosophy, which is consistent with that of Friendship Village, is that lifelong learning keeps minds, bodies and spirits young. “It brings us pleasure to learn new things,” said Henry, who added that it’s also a pleasure for the residents who do the teaching.

Henry established a committee of residents to help develop the program. Jeannette said that it wasn’t difficult to find presenters. “Our residents have fascinating lives,” she said.

Examples include:

Joe and Dot Gondek, who along with another couple, briefly owned Tortilla Flats, a tiny community in Arizona along the Historic Apache Trail. Their presentation was entitled A Life Story: Modern Pioneers
Winnie Christensen, who as a child of missionaries in China, was taken prisoner at the age of 12 or 13 and was separated from her parents for more than 5 years. “She was eventually traded for Chinese prisoners held in the U.S.,” said Magdaleno. “It’s a really incredible story.” Christensen’s presentation entitled A Life Story: Prison Camp in China was received with a standing ovation.
Marilyn Kouba, who has a master’s degree in chemistry, presented Climate Change-Causes of Change
Robert Callanan, who has taught astronomy at Central Arizona College presented Astronomy for Debutantes and Benedicts.
Judy Marren presented Social Networking and Its Effect on You and the World. Ruby Hirakawa recalled her early years in a Japanese internment camp in her presentation entitled A Life Story: I Remember.

Jeannette said that being amongst the residents of Friendship Village is like “being in a goldmine. It’s been amazing finding these resources to share with everybody.”

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