It Takes A Community
ALFA Executive and 2023 Board Members
Barbara Friedman, President
Steve Pincott, Vice President
Nancy Fillip, Secretary
Sally Hens, Treasurer
Dr. Lisa Moison, ALFA’s Liaison to Fitchburg State University
Roni Beal, Debra Faust-Clancy, Martha Crawford, Carol DeCarolis, Kristen Gibbons, Dr. Joyce Hinckley, Gail Hoar, Nicholas Langhart, Art Norman, Sue Peacock, Karen Pick, Maxine Pincott, Harry Semerjian, Kevin Smith
Founding Board
Beatrice Adams, Dr. Robert Antonucci, Dr. Catherine Canney, Barbara Chaplin, Andrienne Clark, Dr, Phil Fallon, Edmund Frederick, Pat Frederick, Dr. Norman Fredette, Anne Johnson, Connie Larrabee, Mary Lewis-Thorne, Jean Miller, Beverly Mulholland, Dr. Tom Mulholland, Jane Murphy, Karen Pick, Shirley Pick, Muriel Ross, Dr. Harry Semerjian, Marc Speiser, Sally Tracy, Stephen Thorne, Dr. Shirley Wagner, Peggy Weaver, Mary Whitney
Collaborating Institutions
Center for Italian Culture
Fitchburg Art Museum
Fitchburg Cultural Alliance
Fitchburg, Leominster, and Lunenburg Libraries Massachusetts Audubon Society
University Staff
Dani Langdon, Dalia Marzuca, Tracy McGrath, and Lisa Moison
Carol DeCarolis and Linda Kennedy- Co-chairs
Roni Beal, Barbara Friedman, Kristen Gibbons, Joyce Hinckley, Gail Hoar, Art Norman, Karen Pick, Maxine Pincott, Kevin Smith
Booklet team: Gail Hoar Concept and Design, George French, Debra Faust- Clancy, Nancy Fillip, Linda Kennedy, Sue Peacock, Karen Pick
Cover Art: Gail Hoar Tagline: Dr. Shirley Wagner
20th Anniversary Committee 2
Tattoo Program
11-11:20 Sign-in and Assemble
11:20-11:30 Welcome and Introductions
• Fitchburg State President, Dr. Richard Lapidus
• ALFA Board President, Barbara Friedman
11:30-12:30 Concert with “Tattoo”, musical group
12:30-1:30 Lunch
1:30-3:00 Program - Joyce Hinckley, MC
Phil Fallon Award
On-going Art Exhibit
ALFA Highlight Performances
Joe Choiniere Outdoor Adventures
Nick Langhart and Carol Smith– Groton Trip
Martha Crawford Salon Overview
Ukulele Concert by ALFA Ukulele Class Order subject to change
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Welcome to ALFA’s 20th Anniversary Celebration
Welcome to ALFA Today! You are what makes ALFA great!
As with almost everything we have experienced in the last four years, ALFA has changed. ALFA, as you all know, is an acronym for Adult Learning in the Fitchburg Area and is a lifelonglearning institute that serves adult learners primarily in Fitchburg and the surrounding communities. But the impact of the pandemic has allowed ALFA to offer classes online to anyone in the world with an internet connection.
Our impact is now greater and the classes are much more diverse than when classes started twenty years ago. Our instructors have backgrounds in different cultures and experiences that provide our students with a 21st century worldview.
ALFA is part of a large university. Fitchburg State grew from a college to a university during the last 20 years and so did the School of Graduate, Online, and Continuing Education.
ALFA is a small part of a big system, but it remains a friendly, social experience.
The Greek letter alpha means
beginning. For many new retirees, ALFA is the beginning of a new phase in their lives. It is a springboard to help with the transition from career to a new lifestyle. It remains today what its founding members hoped it would be, an opportunity to learn, to grow, to socialize, and to volunteer.
ALFA today helps students exercise their minds and bodies. For many older adults it was the incentive to increase their technical skills. Our Boomers are now Zoomers. Muscles stretch, artistic talents bloom, friendships are made and strengthened, and endorphin-levels rise. That is our mission today!
I am honored to be the ALFA Board President during this anniversary year. I want to thank you all for coming to celebrate today. Whether you participate as a Board member, instructor, volunteer, student or Fitchburg State faculty or staff, you are what makes ALFA thrive. I agree with ALFA founding member, Dr. Shirley Wagner’s, 20th anniversary tagline, “ A love of learning, DOES last a lifetime. Thank you!
Barbara Friedman4
Generations of Community and Connection: The Future of ALFA
In 2004 the first Baby Boomers were approaching 60 and the Silent Generation was actively seeking opportunities to enrich their retirement. Lifelong learning programs were springing up across the country, mostly in cities and affluent suburbs. These were top down programs with a focus on content, but not community.
ALFA began differently, with a different vision: a partnership to create a community of learners in an area where cities and towns were less well-off, a partnership to create both learning and connections among its members, a partnership to create content for members and their interests, a partnership that had neither membership fees, age nor education requirements. The goal was to be inclusive, affordable, fun, and fabulous. It worked.
computer and social media skills are pervasive, where leisure has always been about fun and friends.
So, we have to develop content that speaks to these experiences. We need to expand the ways ALFA functions online for both its content and its connections.
We need to maintain and promote opportunities for exploration of both difficult and diverse topics. We need to keep our content developed by and for members. We need to mix the silly and the serious.
In 2024, Gen X is now approaching 60. How will this affect ALFA? They’re a bit less affluent, so we have to remain affordable. They have life experiences where inclusion and accessibility are basics, where
None of these are a stretch or a change to what ALFA is or does. Our future is to maintain the partnership across generations, with our university, and with our cities and towns. Our future is to create unique content for our unique organization. Our future is to embrace technology and use it to strengthen connections. Our future is to maintain the connections and community that are the foundation of ALFA. Our future is fabulous.
Joyce Hinckley5
A Tribute to ALFA at 20 Our Commitment to Community
A
Community of Lifelong Learners
ALFA–Adult Learning in the Fitchburg Area – started with a dream hatched by two educationminded neighbors in Fitchburg. In 2003, educator Shirley Pick and Dr. Phil Fallon, former superintendent of Fitchburg Schools, met to explore the possibility of creating an adulteducation program in Central Massachusetts.
The timing proved to be fortunate. The new president of Fitchburg State University, Dr. Robert Antonucci, embraced the idea enthusiastically, as did Dr. Shirley Wagner, Vice President of Academic Affairs. Their early encouragement and support led to the prompt formation of a steering committee, and two pilot courses began in the spring of 2004.
From that modest beginning , ALFA has grown to offer scores of courses, trips, lectures, and special events each
year. Nature, instrumental and vocal music, cooking, fine arts, art history, architectural appreciation, creative writing, poetry and literature, fitness, local, national and world history, social issues, our legal system, philosophy, computer technology, travel, languages, geology and other sciences are among the areas of study.
Online courses, spurred by the Covid -19 pandemic, have extended ALFA’s reach far beyond North Central Massachusetts, with students hailing from Cape Cod, to California, Florida to Washington State. In recent years, the twice-yearly newsletter , ALFA-Bits, has been re-imagined in digital form to become ALFABytes. This ALFA community newsletter provides information on courses, special events, topics of general interest, and regional happenings. In addition, frequent email E-lerts keep the ALFA community up to date on timely news.
George French7 ALFA
ABeyond Fitchburg State’s Walls: Building a Broader ALFA Community Part A
LFA has expanded its reach into the Fitchburg State campus in the form of a new Mentoring program, as well as its reach beyond Fitchburg’s bordering towns to include students from across the USA. ALFA, also no longer relies solely on Fitchburg State faculty as instructors. In fact, there are more guest instructors than Fitchburg State faculty teaching today. Experts on everything from African music and international climate policies to local police practices can teach from anywhere in the world in ALFA’s online Salon 5-part series courses.
How did this happen? You may think “Covid” and you would be partly correct. But this started before 2019. Salon was in the works as ALFA students began to wish for ways to “continue the conversation” after classes ended. A group of ALFAs began to set up discussions with a few professors at the end of the school day to do just this. From those early meetings, Salon was born with its subtitle of “Continuing the Conversation” under the stewardship of Martha Crawford. The purpose was to offer one more chance to add to the discussions that couldn’t be finished in a single classroom session. It was originally offered off-campus in the Lunenburg Library with a different topic each
Salon and 5-Part classes cover topics from AI and Art to Zoology
Then Covid entered our lives and all classes were canceled. A determined team of ALFA tech gurus set out to find ways to hold classes online with nothing in-place before they began this work. Their efforts led to a new system for hybrid and online classes that included had already initiated 5-Part classes with his Arm Chair Travel format, leaped on this opportunity to add more instructors from around the nation and world to cover classes based upon a single topic with a different expert speaking each week.
This new format meant that not only could instructors be recruited from anywhere, so could students. Now we have a growing number of remote students from California to D.C., as well as our ALFA “snowbirds”, who can attend from their Florida homes.
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ALFA’s Community of Artists
Sharon Donahue 2018 Chinese Brush Painting
Zoe Glasserman, Zentangle and Markers Rock Cairns
Caitlin Mitchell 2016 Charcoal Drawing Siberian Tiger
Madeleine Chase, 2015 Zentangle and Watercolor Morning Sun
Caitlin Mitchell, 2013 Legos
Adrienne Gotreau, 2017 Chinese Brush Painting Black Cat
(left) Adrienne Gotreau , Mixed Media Pretty (above) Nancy Sides Mixed Media 2023
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ALFA’s Community of Artists
Brenda Therrien 2023 Apples, Colored pencil
Bob Ruberti 2023 Dragonfly, Colored pencil
Bob Ruberti 2023 Houses, Colored pencil
Eileen Barnacoat 2023 Colored pencil
Eve Kendall 2023 Colored pencil Seagull
Cecelia Leblanc 2023 Abstract Art
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Mary Ellen Hurley 2023 Tessellations
CBeyond
Fitchburg State’s Walls: Building a Broader ALFA Community Part B
ollaboration is a key word when describing ALFA. Over the years alliances with institutions both in and outside of Fitchburg State have provided not only classroom space, but have offered ways to expand the ALFA program.
ALFA’s relationship with Fitchburg State is growing into an intergenerational partnershipwith ALFAs participating as Mentors. A first step was Joyce Hinckley’s collaboration with Professor Kisha Tracy to provide her Writing II students a chance to interact with ALFAs, when undertaking research projects. This adds another new perspective to the ALFA experience.
One of ALFA’s earliest alliances, the Fitchburg ArtMuseum has often provided both art and academic classroom space. FAM also hosted a summer ALFA film series and staff have taught for the ALFA program. An art exhibit featuring ALFA artists will open in May 2024.
To facilitate the upcoming ALFA art exhibit at FAM, the FitchburgCulturalAlliancehas offered space to hold the art intake and judging of the works submitted for the show. The Cultural Alliance is in the Theater Block, purchased a few years ago by Fitchburg State. It offers studio space to local artists, holds exhibits, and promotes excellence, access, education and diversity in the arts, humanities and science, and serves as community center.
Massachusetts Audubon’s, WachusettMeadowWildlife
Sanctuary, a long-time ALFA partner, has been a favorite haunt for ALFAs on birding and hiking outings.
Classes focusing on Italy, sponsored by the Fitchburg State Center forItalianCulture , have been favorites of many ALFA students.
Fitchburg,Leominster,andLunenburglibrarieshave been collaborating with ALFA by offering classroom and meeting spaces, as well as initiating programs for ALFA participation.
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ALFA Fun Facts
1. ALFA enrollment total over 20 years: 19,512 individual course enrollments.
2. Average age of an ALFA student: 72
3. Average number of first-time ALFAs each semester: 48
4. Average number of Fitchburg State Alums that enroll in ALFA classes per semester: 61
5. Average number of students registered per semester: 300
6. ALFA out-of-state students come from: California
Florida
Michigan Minnesota
Montana
New Hampshire
New York
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Virginia
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ALFA’s Writer’s Community Poetry
DERNIER LEILA: Poetic Brocade Cycle in Spirit of Classic Persian/Arabic Poetry
JoyceAyadiHinckley
No sleep tonight, beloved, only dreams
Here among the fountains.
A dark moon signals fate
Yet lanterns brighten pearly hours.
Tomorrow brings the dawn of bells
Harsh and cold and unforgiving
To clang our rosy world away,
A nightingale gone with light.
Everything dies, Beloved, ends.
Find no solace in that knowing.
Not this night, our last forever
Among sweet blossoms’ breeze.
Drink full and deep, without regret:
This is not the water of forgetting.
We feast not fast this eventide: Daylight’s famine is not yet.
GRATIA
NancyY.Fillip
Give me your hand
And I can take you
To a place that surrounds my heart.
Where comfort is plentiful
And kindness flourishes.
Give me your hand
And I can take you
Where someone has taken me,
So that you can witness
The magnificent beauty of this place.
Give me your hand
And I’ll enclose it in mine.
Trust me. This place is ever so close.
The path is very familiar to me.
You have led the way
But have you ever seen?
FIRST AND SECOND SONGS
No Sleep tonight, Beloved, only dreams
We feast not fast this eventide
A dark moon signals fate
Tomorrow brings the dawn of bells
No sleep tonight, Beloved, only dreams.
While the nightingale croons delight
Daylight’s famine is not yet.
Lanterns brighten pearly hours
And our rosy world clangs away
While the nightingale croons delight.
SAME WORDS IN A NEW POEM
Fate, Beloved, is the lantern’s clang
While our world sleeps away tomorrow.
Bring bright roses, a pearly moon, bells
Eventide to daylight croon
We yet delight and feast, Beloved
No famine tonight only nightingales
Fast, dark hours dream not of dawn.
ODE A UN ETUDIANT
NancyY.Fillip
I think that I shall never see,
A class as tough as French can be
I slave an’ toil from morn’ till night;
My hair almost turns grayish-white.
When I try to conjugate, Irregular verbs I really hate.
I almost flunk my daily quizzes
My weak translations always fizzes.
I chew my nails and nearly scream,
Learning French deserves Ice cream
COMPUTER TEASE
ChristianaErban
I just entered cyberspace
A very complicated place I do not understand dot com
And what on earth is CD-ROM?
A mouse is something which eats cheese
It shouldn’t know computerese
I can’t believe a household pest
Can best me in an IQ test.
The C word makes me shake in fright
Each tiny little mega-byte!
Ha, Ha, I hold the final card,
Unplugging it is not so hard!
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ALFA’s Community of Artists
Observations by ALFA Instructors
[In]2014 or 2015, I was having lunch with Kathy McGuigan, when she told me about ALFA and suggested I offer a class. I was nervous since my prior experience with adults had been challenging. I wanted to teach art ...in a way that was experiential and exploratory and not “how to.” I wanted students to think for themselves and dialog with the materials. In yoga, I want students to be in better communication with their bodies. I was surprised that this approach has been widely appreciated! My experience is that ALFA participants are smart, open, and receptive and clearly lifelong learners.
Ann-marie LaBollita Art and Yoga
I was surprised and impressed by the immense talent of my students and the growth I saw in [torn paper] work from day 1, compared to work from the end of class. Each week, I came up with a new demonstration that challenged me to think more creatively about the medium. I took an ALFA pastel class with my mom several years ago that was really fun, where I learned a lot of new pastel techniques. I learned that ALFA is a wellorganized and professional continuing education environment. Prior to teaching for ALFA, I only taught children. It is much easier teaching at ALFA!
Bridie Wolejko Art
Carol DeCarolis After Modigliani Carol DeCarolis Sailboats Sharon Bernard Zentangle 2023 Meaghan Lamachia Torn paper collage 2023 Gail Joseph Torn paper collage 202315
ALFA’s Community of Art Instructors
Bridie
Bridie Wolejko
Nancy Fillip, Acrylic Kingfisher 2021
Laurie Bebick Colored pencil Wing on a Prayer
Nancy Fillip, Zentangle and Inks Untitled 2020
Ann-marie LaBollita Oil on Board Fall in Wiscasset
Ann-marie LaBollita Oil on Board Wiscasset Estuary
Torn Paper Collage Tree
Wolejko Torn Paper Collage
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Laurie Bebick Colored pencil Box Turtle
Observations by ALFA Instructors
“I love having a group of fully engaged students who are willing to be active participants in the learning process.”
Paul Weizer The Supreme Court
ALFA keeps our minds and bodies active, alive and enthused - and this is what it does for me as an instructor teaching about things I’m passionate about. …. I hike at least twice a week once to test the trail and again with my group. I’ve learned many new trail systems from participants. I was surprised by how fun and how friendly everyone in my group has consistently been and also by how much preparation time is needed to feel fully successful. I feel like I need to know more facts to share with adults...I also need to be more aware of physical limitations.
Laurie Nehring Naturally Curious hikes
I was a university professor all my adult life. Retired now. I miss teaching...Further, having studied anthropology and lived and worked in East Africa years ago, I both love and miss Africa, so I love the chance to get back to things African. I am also a frustrated ethnomusicologist, and try to remedy that by studying African music, which I love anyway. (Plus my cousin, Joyce Ayadi, made me do it.)
Dr. Richard Logan African Music
I’ve taught different classes for ALFA over the past six years. Each time I do, I’m so impressed by the depth of experience my students bring to class. There’s no doubt that I learn as much as I teach...It’s been wonderful getting to teach about topics I love with folks who love them...There’ve been so many times during classes with ALFA students where I’ve gotten to think about a character, a plot twist or an entire book in a new way...Teaching for ALFA is always enriching and rejuvenating for me...I’m always excited to see where the conversation takes us. Learning is always a collaborative journey with ALFA students.
Dr.. Katharine Covino -Young Adult Literature, Graphic Novels, The Iliad, Sherlock Holmes and Cozy Mysteries for Armchair Sleuths
“My presentations were via Zoom… An unexpected gift was the ability to expand to a wider learning audience from across the country. I love teaching, especially older adults, who have a depth and breadth of experience that enhances discussion enormously.”
Veda Ross US History in 5-Part Courses
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Observations by ALFA’s Instructors
After teaching teenagers for 38 years, it’s a joy to have an entire classroom of students who WANT to be there. And they’re so well behaved! In addition, retiring was difficult and ALFA offers a nice alternative for me to keep teaching. So many things to teach, so little time.
Nancy Fillip French, Art, Writing, Memory, Natural Healing, and Woodwind courses
Teaching for ALFA was a most rewarding experience. It gave me the opportunity to present various subjects that I love in a relaxed setting. The audience was knowledgeable and appreciative. I loved the back and forth questions and discussions. Keeping in mind the ALFA audience while preparing for the presentations allowed me to consider and reconsider different ways to present the material in ways that I would not have otherwise. Everybody should consider doing an ALFA course. There is so much to gain.
Aldo Bianco Terraformation, Italian Café, Tours Italy Statistics , Immigration, Trieste
My first course for ALFA filled a need I discovered as a librarian. I offered tips on how to use the technology of your local library. Meaning how to see your account, reserve items for pickup at the library, reserve and read e-books and audiobooks. I branched out from there
by teaching technology that is useful and needed by seniors from how to use your smartphone to how to organize your digital photos. Zoom classes have been especially challenging.
Barbara Friedman Technology to Seniors
ALFA has been one of the best parts of my 19 years at Fitchburg State and my 25 years in higher ed and has led me to connect to three other adult learning programs as well. I love everything about it, but most of all I love the students, their voices and perspectives, their experience and identities, their stories and ideas, everything they bring and add to our classes and all the ways they inspire me in every layer of my own career and life. Ben Railton American Studies and Literature (especially short stories)
I love teaching for ALFA. The students are so engaged with the material and always impress me with their insights. They bring real-world experience to the discussion in ways the average college students can’t. I love having students who are there for the sheer joy of learning. The classes always fly by. My parents were in a similar program so it inspired me to give back as I could.
Eric Budd Global Issues in Film, Peace Studies, Political and Social Issues
Pure enjoyment of getting out and enjoying the outdoors with fellow adventurers. Jeanne Cuskey Hiking classes
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How a Community of Techies and a Teacher Changed the Course of ALFA
There was no warning, just a blanket statement. Fitchburg State would be closed, indefinitely. ALFA, like Fitchburg State was not prepared for an abrupt closure of in-person classes, especially in the middle of a semester. This happened in March 2020 at the beginning of the COVID pandemic.
ALFA president, Joyce Ayadi Hinckley, had to devise a solution. Immediately, she called on a close cadre of ALFA members to brainstorm; how was ALFA going to survive this blow? How were we, as a community, going to reach our lifelong learners?
ALFA’s Technology Committee was born from this chaos. Three board members, Martha Crawford, Maxine and Steve Pincott, volunteered to work on this task along with Billy Ayadi. By April 2020, the committee of four, with Billy as the chairperson, began working on this task of biblical proportions. Each of the diverse committee members brought their own strengths to the table. Steve and Billy worked as engineers and had a good handle on the technological aspects of computing. Martha’s expertise was in business training organization and she knew there was technology that could bring classes to homebound learners. Maxine was a former classroom teacher and had expertise in classroom protocols.
Our first mission was to decide on the best platform to run a virtual class. After Billy and Steve researched a variety of platforms, the committee tested them. We decided on using Zoom as it met with all of our specifications. Fitchburg State approved of our choice.
We needed to have support for instructors and students. In order to facilitate instruction, a volunteer class technology assistant position was developed. This person would assist the instructor and students in technological matters. Martha was instrumental in assisting the committee to devise protocols for training for the technological assistants, students and instructors.
So, what does a virtual classroom look like? That was where Maxine’s expertise came into focus. By the end of May, she devised classroom protocols so that our ALFA classrooms were welcoming, inclusive to registered students and instructors and followed basic in-person classroom procedures. Fitchburg State approved the classroom protocols and tech assistant position and assisted with presenting a polished virtual training manual with the protocols for instructors, tech assistants, and students.
By September 2020, ALFA was ready for virtual fall classes. These virtual classrooms have changed the trajectory of ALFA. A group of four seniors using their lifelong skills were able to make this happen for our community of lifelong learners. Maxine Pincott
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ALFA Community Members Speak About ALFA
What ALFA means to me
Ihave spent so much of my life growing intellectually at Fitchburg State undergrad in the '70s, grad school in the '90s, and now, as a retired adult, the community music program, community orchestra and ALFA! To continue experiencing quality educational opportunities at Fitchburg State in the ALFA program is such a treasure! I feel so fortunate to be entering my third semester as an ALFA student. It is a high quality, affordable and very enjoyable way to exercise our minds and interact with community members. Anna Farrell
Ihave been a teacher and student for ALFA and was pleased to see ALFA offered various foreign language classes. I wanted to be able to learn enough to get by as a tourist for an upcoming trip to Europe. The class I took not only addressed this goal but surpassed all my expectations. Classes at ALFA are welcoming, warm and encourage students to feel safe enough to take the risk of speaking a foreign language right from day one. As an ALFA student, expect to be challenged while acquiring new material and experiencing the joy of learning. Friendships are formed and small group gatherings beyond the classroom have occurred. We are lucky to have this program in our community Sandra Whittemore, 10 yr. ALFA student
After much reluctance, I recently took a course during the pandemic on Zoom. I never thought I would like Zoom classes but the presentation was so well done that I felt like I was right there in the classroom. There was a PowerPoint show with gorgeous photos and a few video clips each time and other than sitting next to a person instead of my cat, I felt like I was in the classroom. I learned just as much through that Zoom program as I would have in person. Where in the world can you take a five-week class with excellent teachers for $45 and learn this much! ALFA is clearly a gem among the adult education programs out there. Thank you so much for being here.
Chelsea HaywardALFA – Give it a try
I [had] never heard about ALFA and then a friend of mine explained about the program. My first thought was, “Ugh, more school.” Eventually, I succumbed to her gentle pressure of trying a class. I also was nervous that I would not be smart enough to be there. But I signed up and immediately my perspective changed. The class was so welcoming, and as we each introduced ourselves and our reasons for being there, it suddenly hit me. These were people who just wanted to learn more. What’s wrong with that? Just because we’re older doesn’t mean we have to stop expanding our neurons. I had been living in my safe cocoon for much too long. The class was alive with discussion, opinions, and all done with safety and respect. I left the class excited for next week, new found energy and some new friends.
Martha Coloumbe20
A History of Our ALFA Community in Photos
Experiencing Dining to Learn in more ways than food
Norse Mythology class with Pete Peterson and his bird
Tea Pairing with Danielle Beaudette from The Cozy Tea Cart
Paul Luria’s Harmonic group at spring event
Joyce Hinckley’s Dining to Learn attendees in “class”
Bev Hollows , first ALFA Secretary
Walkabout with Sally Hens and Jeanne Cuskey
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A History of Our ALFA Community in Photos
Rollstone Walk with Peter Capodagli
Intergenerational audience at a Food for Thought Event
Katharine Covino and her Graphic Novel Class
Mushrooming class
Art Buffet with Nancy Fillip
African dance and drumming session
Our Cooking Class that was so popular
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Former ALFA secretary, Diane Thibodeau
A History of Our ALFA Community in Photos
Zumba Class
Wood Carving class Moby Dick visits New Bedford with Catherine Hunter
Film Noir class dressed in classic film noir style with Joe Moser
Nancy Fillip’s French class
Tour of Worcester with Nick Langhart
Tai Chi Class with Mike Kressy
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Phil Fallon Award Winner
Joyce HinckleySpeech Nominating Joyce for Phil Fallon Award as presented by Karen Pick
No one has contributed more to ALFA than Joyce Hinckley as teacher of more than forty classes, innovator, board member, curriculum committee member, strategic planner, ALFA president extraordinaire, mentor, and cheerleader.
Who else could expound with boundless enthusiasm on such wide-ranging topics as Islam, Textiles, Aging Issues, Armchair Travel and Culinary Arts, create programs like “Dining to Learn,” and showcase artifacts and regalia from her travels to highlight her classes?
Joyce exemplifies our ALFA motto Love of learning lasts a lifetime. And who knows what’s still down that “rabbit hole!”
The many faces of Joyce in action as speaker, teacher/collaborator and student mentor below.
fitchburgstate.edu/ALFA