ElderCollege running a spring online semester

By Lloyd Brown-John

Canterbury ElderCollege, a volunteer based program of informative, interesting and useful courses for folks aged 55 and better, opened course registrations on Monday, May 17.

A total of 18 online courses (via Zoom) are being offered. Of those courses, 15 require fees while three courses are being offered free of charge.

ElderCollege, now entering its 11th year of offering courses, has delivered almost 40 courses online via Zoom during the Covid pandemic.

For two semesters, Autumn 2020 and early Spring 2021, ElderCollege was able to offer courses free of charge thanks to an almost $26,000 grant. The grant, administered by the Windsor-Essex Community Foundation, was funded under the Government of Canada Emergency Support Fund.

The much-appreciated grant permitted Elder- College to develop an online learning platform and gain experience both for instructors and the over 2,000 people who registered in the two semesters of courses.

The grant expired on March 31. and now, with sufficient experience, the online platform will permit Canterbury ElderCollege to continue offering its unique blend of practical, interesting and often entertaining short courses for seniors. The grant supported the online effort, now ElderCollege is on its own.

One aspect of the online experience so far for ElderCollege has been opportunities for people throughout Ontario, Canada, the United States and even abroad to enjoy. In this sense, ElderCollege certainly has gone “national” and even “global”.

Based at Canterbury College at the University of Windsor and supported by Canterbury College, which provides office space and basic financial support, ElderCollege has created amazing opportunities for those aged 55 and better to keep their minds active.

An astonishing array of courses will be offered in this brief May-June Semester.

In collaboration with the Art Gallery of Windsor, a free six-part set of courses on various artistic forms will be offered. Birding 101 will be hosted free by Point Pelee National Park, and a course on the Detroit River’s Environmental History is offered free by the Essex Region Conservation Authority.

Courses with fees include: “Brewed in Windsor – A History of Beer”; “Canada’s First World War II Battle, Hong Kong”; “Chair Yoga”; “Terrible Lizards – Dinosaurs”; “The 1905 Transcontinental Auto Race”; “Collecting German Stamps”; “Onion Skins & Peach Fuzz: Memories of Ontario’s Farmerettes”; “In Harms Way: Experiences of a Canadian Military Medic”; “Uniquely Canadian: Canada Art Pottery”; “From the Land of Frankincense and Myrrh to the Land of Cyprus – via the Suez Canal”; “Perspectives on Disabilities”; and “The Cemetery Show – Restful Recollections”.

Registration opened May 17 and continues thereafter. Membership fees have been waived.

Registration online at www.eldercollege.ca or by phone at 519-564-0683.

Courses tend to fill quickly, although maximum participants generally can reach as high as 90 people online.