Third Age Learning at Kwantlen returns with courses focused on lifelong learning
Adults aged over 50 can register for sessions happening this month
TALK aims to help older adults stay physically, socially, and mentally active. (File photo)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Third Age Learning at Kwantlen (TALK) program has returned with a new season of courses, which kicked off in February and run until the end of May.
TALK has a more than 25-year-long history of providing adults over 50 with short, informative, and interactive sessions. It offers non-credit courses and special events, including field trips.
Courses are taught by community volunteers, including KPU instructors, covering topics from science and technology to arts and wellness. The program is structured with no prerequisites, grades, or exams.
Sessions are offered both in person — either at a KPU campus or off site — and online.
Upcoming sessions include a field trip to the Derek Doubleday Arboretum in Langley on May 13 and a walk through Syéx̱w Chó:leqw Adventure Park near Ruby Creek on May 22.
“KPU staff and students are welcome to attend our courses free of charge if there’s space available,” TALK Program Chair Jean Garnett says.
One of TALK’s most popular events is its Philosophers’ Corner, a public discussion group held in Richmond, Surrey, and Langley. These sessions are open to everyone, regardless of age or membership status.
“It starts with someone volunteering to give a 10 or 15-minute introduction to the topic, just to get the conversation started. And then, we have a moderated discussion,” Garnett says. “We keep a speaker’s list, and [whoever wants to weigh in] give their thoughts.”
One of TALK’s volunteers, Gerry Boretta, facilitated four sessions this season. Boretta’s story with the program, however, started as a participant in a course about art and forest fires.
“After I took that, I created a piece of art — because I’m a photographer — that I had not yet thought of,” Boretta says. “This program inspired me to put some photographs together that I had taken that were about the incredible colour that you get after there’s a forest fire.”
Interested participants can join a session by paying a $10 annual membership fee or pay for individual courses, which cost $15 or $20.
“We hope to continue doing what we’re doing,” Garnett says. “We would like to get more people involved so that we can assist more people in keeping mentally, physically, and socially active.”
For more information, visit www.kpu.ca/talk.
