Agenda - 02-03-1986 - Laserfiche WebLink

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- ti P.;7JJiili: I 'C`J CER4t Orange County is in the center of an intellectual en- vironment with the 'University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the southern part plus Duke and ',North Carolina State Universities and the Research Triangle Park in close proximity. Chapel Hill in particular has a rapidly growing population of educated retirees from the University and others in relocating. to the County from all over the United States. For the decade (1980-90) the projected growth for the County elderly (60+) will be 39% compared to only 13% for the total Orange County population; representing three out of ten new residents bring elderly. Thus, there is a high demand for intellect- ually stimulating programming rather than traditional arts and crafts programs associated with senior citizens. There were two additional concerns - finding appropriate meeting space and an appealing time to offer education programming. The Chapel Hill-Carrborc City Schools (one of the sponsors) were concerned that school facilities were primarily used by and limited to young students during day hours. Yet, these public buildings, paid for by county taxpayers (older) , were underutilized at certain times and were excellent meeting locations, for additional educa- tional programming. ' The Saturday School for Seniors , a program that evolved out of these concerns, had two primary objectives : 1. to provide high quality, educationally stimulating classes at a reasonable cast and in a non-threatening setting. 2. to better utilize existing public school facilities on behalf of senior citizens. SOLUTION: A series of planning meetings were held in the summer of 1984 by representa- tives of the Orange ''County Department on Aging, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and Durham Technical Institite identifying the forementioned concerns . The three agencies formed a permanent committee to co-sponsor and develop the Saturday School for 1,Seniors which began in the fall of 1984 . The program design proved to be innovative and sensitive to the special program- ming needs of olderladults and accomplished its intended objectives. Specifi- cally, the classes were provided on Saturday mornings , an attractive time for many older learners . The local Junior High School utilized for the pro- ject was centrally located and directly on the city busline. The instruction site was made exclusively to senior adults , with classes designed for the older learner thereby minimizing any feelings of intimidation. A comprehensive and varied course offerings were available such as Introduction to Computers, Financial Planning and Investments, Chinese Cooking for One or Two People , Writing Reminiscence's , Painting/Drawing Course , Soft Sculpture and Doll Making. Scholarships were also available upon request for senior adults. having diffi- culty paying the class fee. ($12 . 00 to $27 . 00) The program format consisted of courses offered from 10 :00 a.m. to 12 :00 noon for eight consecutive Saturday mornings . A light refreshemnt break-•-- (coffee and doughnut's) was held for all classes in the main lobby of the school. This was a very essential part of the program' s success , allowing for stimulation and interaction between class members, especially newcomers to the community.