Enjoy being a student again

By Margaret Foster

As the kids go back to school this fall, you can almost smell those new pencils and feel the excitement of learning something new.

Many older adults in Baltimore return to school this time of year, too. Hundreds of classes in our area are affordable or even free for older adults, and they’re available online or in person.

Lifelong students say these classes introduce them to new ideas and new friends. Ask Elizabeth Fanto, 86, who has been teaching and taking classes at Renaissance Institute at Notre Dame of Maryland University for more than 20 years.

“The first year I was retired, I was bored to tears. My husband and I [started taking classes], and it just opened up a whole world for us,” she said.

“There’s such a wonderful social aspect. You make friends. For anyone who’s living alone, it’s just a boon.”

Take a class, teach a course

The Renaissance Institute welcomes amateur teachers. Fanto teaches mostly writing classes, as many as five in one semester.

“The idea is that people who have a passion for something share it with other people. We teach ourselves,” explained Sharon Harwood, a retired teacher in her 70s who teaches a popular Shakespeare course.

Baltimore photographer Lewis Katz began teaching photography classes after he retired from the travel business.

“I got the bug and really did enjoy it,” said Katz, 65, who has been teaching at Odyssey at Johns Hopkins University and Smithsonian Associates for more than 10 years.

In a stew? No, it’s a class about soup at the Renaissance Institute at Notre Dame of Maryland University, where students studied, wrote about and eventually prepared soups for each other. Many lifelong learning and school programs in our area offer a variety of in-person and virtual classes for the 50+ population.

And the best part? Most lifelong learning classes have no tests, papers or grades — which takes the pressure off of teachers as well as students so they can get to know each other.

“I enjoy teaching; I don’t necessarily enjoy grading tests and papers,” said Nicholas Fessenden, who teaches history

See BACK TO SCHOOL, page 12

SEPTEMBER 2023

LEISURE & TRAVEL

Luxury resort-hopping near Cancún, Mexico; plus, several ways to save on a cruise page 16

ARTS & STYLE

Maryland’s master folk artists pass down skills, such as storytelling, to apprentices; plus, what’s in a podcast? page 19

FITNESS & HEALTH 4 k Don’t fall for these myths k Weight loss surgery helps joints

LAW & MONEY 14 k Prevent fraud: Don’t mail checks k Pros and cons of meal kits ADVERTISER