Years ago, Marilyn Ford would help her daughter Brandi fall asleep with adventurous tales of Sir Gawain, an humble knight in service to King Arthur. The chivalric stories from a late 14th-century Middle English romance are some of Ford’s favorites. Soon, she will get to share the Arthurian quests with inquisitive adults in a class titled “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” She can’t wait.
Ford is one of more than a dozen volunteer instructors for East Mississippi Community College’s new LION program — Learning in Our Neighborhood. This series of low-cost, non-credit courses for the public debuts March 18-April 26 at locations in Columbus.
“This is really about outreach and giving back to the community,” said Ford, an English instructor at EMCC. She spearheads the LION program. “This will be a great opportunity for us to serve the people who reside in the districts we represent.”
LION is patterned after the Life Enrichment Program previously offered by Mississippi University for Women. It was popular with participants who often took multiple classes that piqued their curiosity and interests.
“That community of learners had grown together,” Ford said. “Many had taken several courses each term; many of them knew one another and missed the camaraderie and intellectual stimulation.”
Fran Fuqua of Columbus was among them. She joined several other participants in voicing their hope to EMCC that the school might offer a similar opportunity.
“I’d taken the courses at The W almost from the start, and I found them educational and entertaining; they kept me up with the world,” Fuqua said. “I felt like I was back in school, but with no tests and no exams. And I met a lot of people that I would not have met through anything else. I’m delighted EMCC is doing this.”
Many volunteer instructors who took part in The W’s LEP program will be teaching LION courses offered through EMCC.
“MUW was gracious in sharing the list of former LEP participants, with their permission, so we had a pool of potential enrollees and instructors to reach out to,” explained Ford.
From bees to sonnets
Variety is key to LION’s spring debut. Thirteen classes will meet weekly for six weeks at designated locations.
Kelvin Young will teach iPhone Pointers at the Golden Triangle Planning and Development District Senior Enrichment Center on Gardner Boulevard. (Bring your own iPhone or iPad to this class.)
“We’ll teach people basics of their iPhone, starting off simple, like how to download apps,” said Young, who is market manager at C Spire in Columbus. “It’s just a way to give back to the community.”
A course titled Healthy Homes Solutions will be conducted by Mississippi State University Extension Agent Vivian Cade at the Lowndes County Extension Office on Tom Rose Road.
“This is talking about how to keep your home safe — from making sure your house is clean, to keeping driveways safe and free from cracks, to (dealing with) mold in the house and all kinds of topics people may not want to talk about, but it’s necessary.”
Both Young and Cade previously taught LEP courses for The W.
“It’s really an excellent way for all of us to do something for the community; it’s good to be able to do that with MUW or EMCC,” Cade said. “We’re here for the community.”
EMCC humanities instructor Laura Vernon will lead yoga sessions at Bliss Yoga in downtown Columbus.
“I think it’s great they will be able to take the classes at a yoga studio where they already have all the apparatus those who are at a beginning or intermediate level are going to need.”
Take your pick
LION classes for the inaugural term March 18-April 26 are offered for a nominal $35 fee, which entitles enrollees to take up to three classes per term. Additional classes cost $10 each. Registration is open. Email [email protected], or call 662-243-1900, for more information on days and times, and to sign up.
Ford will have a registration table set up at Lion Hills Center, 2331 Military Road, during Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today and also March 3.
In addition to iPhone Pointers, Healthy Home Solutions and Yoga, classes (and locations) include:
Classes offered during a condensed summer term in June will last four weeks, rather than six.
“I couldn’t be more grateful to those folks who have stepped up (to teach),” said Ford, inviting all lifelong learners to join in launching the LION program. “I’m really excited about this.”
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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