Learning Opportunities Abound at MAC

By Jake Ten Pas

Think of it as cross-training for the brain. According to Scientific American, learning new skills can help minds stay sharp as humans age, but regardless of life stage, forging fresh mental pathways is a great way to stay engaged.

As MAC’s seasonal program guides ably demonstrate, in addition to sports and fitness camps and classes, the club serves members a variety of artistic, recreational, and educational opportunities. This is accomplished through tapping into the talents of instructors inside the club and out. Some are members themselves, while others are outside professionals who jump at the chance to teach MAC’s passionate community.

As another school year gets rolling, it’s worth remembering that there’s no graduation from the college of self-improvement. With that in mind, meet a few of the faculty at MAC University and find out how they keep their students progressing toward living their fullest possible lives.

Musical Note to Self

MAC already has a writing class called Tell Your Story, but in a way, any instruction that helps someone express themselves might be called the same. Tim Uecker has been helping members learn the basics of guitar and ukulele — so they can play, and possibly sing, their stories — for around eight years now. It’s a continuation of his own tale of a life dedicated to entertaining and encouraging others to reach their musical potential.

“One way or another, if you’re creating something, you’re telling part of your story, the world’s story, or history,” Uecker says. A few years back, member Charles Arnell was featured in The Winged M after realizing his bucket-list goal, reignited after a cancer diagnosis, of performing live in front of audiences, with Uecker’s assistance. “I do a whole thing for adults who want to move from practice to performance, and Arnell took me up on it,” Uecker continues. “You sufficiently learn a number of songs to cover an hour. I always have them find the venue and they market it, make the contact, and we load in and do it.”

But it all starts with the fundamentals. This is the guitar, or this is the ukulele, these are the strings, and this is how you hold it. Although the

ukulele might once have been viewed as an entry point to learning to play the guitar, it now stands on its own as an economical instrument that is easy to use even for small hands. With artists such as virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro and pop stars ranging from Jason Mraz and Ingrid Michaelson to Paul McCartney employing the instrument in songs and live performance, the ukulele no longer is relegated to novelty or grade school education association, Uecker says.

Given musical instruction’s inconsistent — or nonexistent — presence in schools these days, the fact that MAC helps kids and adults alike get started on strings means increasing future potential. In addition to performing at wineries and other local venues with his own band, Tide, Uecker also offers after-school instruction at a couple of local elementaries, as well as offering private and small-group instruction. “I think what MAC is doing is doggone innovative. I’ve had hundreds of students come through in my time here, and a lot of them continue for years and stick with it even after they graduate from my beginning and intermediate classes.”

Uecker traces his own longevity in performance and education back to a teacher he had in grade school, Mr. Yetter, who saw potential in him before he’d even considered picking up an instrument. Beginning on trumpet, Uecker continued onto guitar and was covering The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Animals in his own band by junior high. He went onto major in music education and composition at Central Washington University, and it all started with one note.

“The very first note I played, he was very positive, and I figured, ‘I’ll give this thing a shot.’ Music became every bit of my life. The thing about him was that he had this sense of igniting the imagination and allowing you to think you could play when you didn’t even know if you could. When my students at MAC say, “Oh, I don’t think I can do that,’ I say something like, ‘Let’s give it a shot. You’ve definitely got the hand strength.’ I lead with the positive, and hopefully it makes them feel like they can get the next note and then the next one and so on. I try to believe in them until they believe in themselves.”

Adding Up to Feeling Good

In the timeless debate around nature versus nurture, Eric Earle is an argument unto himself. The founder of Tutor Portland has been helping MAC students improve their understanding of numbers for nearly five years even though his own relationship with them started out rocky at best.

“I always struggled with math and science and felt my brain was not geared toward that, and more geared towards English, essays, and reading,” Earle says from Norfolk, Virginia, where he is currently attending Eastern Virginia Medical School after graduating with a communications degree from Portland State University. When Tutor Portland’s services resume this fall at MAC, he’ll serve in more of an administrative capacity, overseeing the team of professionals who deploy the tutoring framework he’s developed.

A large part of that structure is built upon effective communication and the same kind of active learning members might already be familiar with from My MAC Playschool’s approach to early education. “If you ask, ‘Do you understand that?’ The kid might say, ‘Yes,’ but not really comprehend. So, it’s about asking, ‘What is your understanding of this?’ or ‘Can you explain it to me?’ That gets them verbalizing their own thoughts on the subject, and there’s a lot of evidence that shows that’s a better way to learn math and science,” Earle explains.

Tutor Portland began its life focused more on English and liberal arts, but over time, Earle has shifted to offering a majority of math and science tutoring in response to parent requests. This has reflected his own commitment to learning, which took a new direction after a trip to India. “I did this volunteer trip, and there was a medical neurology clinic over there where I spent some time. That experience made me realize that I wanted to go into medicine and become a physician.”

“Unfortunately, my math and science were probably at a middleschool level, and so I decided to start working with some of my own tutors. I ended up getting much better at those subjects, which in turn made me start liking them.” This virtuous cycle, whereby improvement in a subject can lead to enjoyment of it and in turn lead to further improvement, is something Earle has commonly seen in his company’s students. “When our kids learn enough mathematics to excel in their classes, other students start asking, ‘How do you do that?’ Now, they’re helping others, and it feels really good to be good at something.”

“All of our tutors come from that perspective despite being experts in their area of teaching. They communicate in basic ways and try different strategies dependent on the student. The approach is based on considering the perspective of someone who might not be a natural, and who needs patience and caring to help them succeed. Eventually that light’s going to go on, and it’s going to click.”

Turn of a Friendly Card

“Canasta is like bridge in terms of popularity. Everywhere you go, people play bridge. Everywhere you go, people play canasta, except in the Pacific Northwest. It is the weirdest thing to me!” says Iris Polatsch, who instructs Beginning Canasta class starting this fall. “It’s actually very selfish of me. I need people to know how to play so we can always get a game going,” she finishes with a wry smile on her face.

Anyone who’s perused the Connect & Create section of the Fall Program Guide may have noticed that canasta is described as “the pickleball of card games,” which is appropriate since it seems to be easy to pick up, and hard to put down due to its similarity to other games with which members might be familiar. “You have gin rummy, which is easy-peasy. You have bridge, which is difficult. Then you’ve got canasta in the middle. You don’t have to be a brilliant person, and you don’t have to feel stress about the game, but there’s a lot of strategy, so it’s not like it’s too easy,” Polatsch opines.

She didn’t pick up canasta until she retired from a career in advertising sales. Gaming runs in her family, though, and in addition to loving bridge, canasta, and poker, Polatsch jokes that her mom “loved slot machines more than her children.” This same poker-faced humor — delivered with remnants of her native Scottish accent — is on display when Polatsch teaches others her understanding of the game, which she’s already done at the Pearl District building that houses her condominium and the local Jewish Community Center.

“My students just get hysterical when I say, ‘You can’t do that!’ or “You’re not allowed to say that!’ in response to one of them asking another why they played a particular card. My mother always said, “If you are playing bridge and somebody says to you, ‘Why did you throw that card?’ you get up and you leave, and you don’t play with them again.” Because cards are supposed to be fun. You’re not supposed to have pressure.”

More than being a hoot, Polatsch also says playing cards socially is great for the brain. “You have to think and negotiate your move and consider what your opponent thinks of the cards that they have. What is your partner going to throw, and what are they holding? All that stuff works the synapses.”

This last point is particularly meaningful to Polatsch, who has multiple sclerosis and says joining MAC has saved her life. “Working out is very important to me for keeping mobility in my legs. I get a shot once a week, and the day after the shot, I never know how I’m going to feel. I may have flu-like symptoms and be exhausted, or I might be fine. I plan my canasta games for the day after my shot because I know I’m not going to go to the gym and jump up and down, but I can still get a mental workout.”

Whether members are struggling with a condition such as MS, or just have bad knees following a lifetime spent playing tennis or basketball, Polatsch says canasta is a great way to find a community, not just at the club, but wherever one might travel. “There are a lot of rules in canasta, but they’re always the same. You can create a community or connect with one anywhere. It’s a great game for couples or a way to meet someone new. At the end of the day, you’re never going to feel inadequate with canasta.”