Some of the things I would like us to achieve this year include:

Continue the excellent programs that we have now and don’t “SCREW IT UP”. We are in a very good place, with a first-class organization and program, and we want to stay on that course.

Work with the Delaney, and other adult living communities to help them participate and to bring our programs to them. This will be rewarding and great community service.

Promote Shared Interest (SIGs) as interest dictates. SIGs have a special place in our organization- they allow more member interaction, and camaraderie and thus enhance one of the important aspects of LLL – they build relationships.

Continue to pursue OLLI recognition and grant. For an OLLI grant we are told that they prefer an organization with 500 members. Thus, we have a little way to go from our current membership of 415. But I am confident in our Publicity and new Membership Teams.

Again, I applaud the work of the Team leaders and all the volunteers. Your work is essential to Baylor Lifelong Learning. I dedicate the following poem to them.

Learning

There were English peas in my Pad Thai

Did Anna teach the king?

What keeps aircraft in the sky? Bernoulli? Or McFly?

Did God really make gnats? Why?

Curiosity killed the cat, they say

But, for us humans, that’s not the way

Learning keeps our minds alive,

join Life Long Learning and really thrive!

I look forward to another outstanding year with Baylor Lifelong Learning and working with Nancy Moore, Terry Wright and all of you great volunteers.

Let’s keep learning.

Clay and Dianne Sawyer, Gail Herring, and Jo Ann Simpson enjoy conversation before the meal.

Joe Falsone and Doug Baldwin

The celebrated chocolate cake

Baylor’s Lauren Webber entertained us with Patsy Cline numbers.

Kay Woodward Olsen, wife of the former US Ambassador to Sweden, shared stories of her time in Sweden.

Terry Wright presents Elaine White with the Baylor Lifelong Learner Excellence Award.

Our members and leaders put “Life” into “Lifelong.”

The Baylor Lifelong Learning program has just completed its 24^th year in existence and begins its 25^th year, ready to celebrate our Silver Anniversary in the Spring of 2023. Enjoying a membership of over 400 members, our organization is almost completely run by our volunteers who staff our teams, support our courses and special events, and work behind the scenes to offer one of the finest senior adult learning programs in our country!  

2022-23 Leadership Team

Seated from left to right: Linda Howell, Terry Wright, Doug Baldwin, Sherry Cragen, Rosalie Beck. Standing: Sharon Lavender, Linda Wright, Diane Hamilton, Judy Staples, Bill Dube, Debbie Allen, Elaine White, Jane Winston, and Nancy Moore

Traditionally, the organization had an executive director, an employee of Baylor University who coordinated the planning and execution of the courses and special events. In recent years, members have been stepping forward to take on more responsibilities as volunteers, which turned out to be a great asset for our group as we transitioned to the Mayborn Museum in 2021. All our officers, team chairs, team members, course hosts, shared interest group leaders, newsletter writers, and brochure preparers give of their time and skills to keeping the organization humming. 

In 2019, a planning retreat under the leadership of LLL President Elaine White made a priority decision to recognize the workers that made things happen. Volunteer pins were ordered in Baylor green and gold to affix to the lanyards of all LLL volunteers.

At that time, a few dozen members were identified to receive notes of appreciation and a volunteer pin. In the following two years, the number of volunteers has nearly doubled, as has the size of our organization! 

Many of our newer members serve as Course Hosts for about 30 courses offered during the academic year with tasks such as preparing for the enrollees, greeting and introducing the instructor, giving announcements, and handling any situations that arise when the group meets. This is the “face” of Lifelong Learning as our members interact directly with the course hosts serving as the contact for that particular course. Those who work with the Course Hosts behind the scenes attest to the fact that many difficult situations have been handled quickly and carefully by our front-line volunteers in order to smooth the way for the anticipated educational experience.

After becoming somewhat familiar with our program, many of our members choose to serve on the teams to plan various aspects of our work. For example, about a dozen people plan future courses for the program taught by highly qualified instructors in subjects that are favorites for our members. They generally work six months in advance of the next semester in order for the courses to be submitted for inclusion in the LLL brochure that is mailed out about 2 months before classes begin. A similar timeline is used for special events as a group of about eight members plan several special events each semester, including two coffees with speakers, a day-long bus trip out of the area to an interesting destination, and the end-of-the semester luncheon with a speaker. Because we offer a variety of activities and learning experiences, our members can select those that fit their schedules and their interests.

Some members enjoy the experiences of being on the publicity team where they brainstorm ways to get information out to interested individuals who would love to connect with our program. They deliver brochures to area businesses, retirement homes, and waiting rooms that are willing to share our information. Press releases are issued about our courses and special events and are printed in newspapers, newsletters, and online calendars.

Those who enjoy writing can volunteer on the Publications Team to produce the newsletter or the organization’s brochure. Others help with the Membership Team or the History Team that keeps records of our organization’s history through the years. And, finally, the Shared Interest Group (SIG) leaders volunteer to organize small groups of people who are interested in the same subjects. One of the largest shared interest groups is Eager Eaters where members sign up with their volunteer leader to be notified once a month where they will all go out to lunch together! Other SIGs include memoir writing, leisure travel, family tree (genealogy), poetry, and photography. These shared interest offerings, made possible by volunteers, offer free opportunities for paid members of Lifelong Learning to participate in a wide variety of learning activities. 

Some of our members claim that the best experiences they’ve ever had in Baylor Lifelong Learning have been to serve as an elected officer of the group and member of the Leadership Team. For example, when a member is elected Vice President, there is a year of opportunity to learn the inner workings of our organization before serving a one-year term as President. In the year following that, the Past President continues to enjoy the fellowship and functions of the Leadership Team with the duty of serving as Nominating Team Chair to recruit future volunteer leaders for the years ahead. Other volunteer leadership positions include Secretary, At-Large Members of the Leadership Team, or any of the 7 Team Chairs who participate in the decision-making.

Incoming President, Doug Baldwin; Past President, Terry Wright

What’s not to love about volunteering with Baylor Lifelong Learning? With the continuing plan to award annual volunteer pins to those who serve, any interested member can add a volunteer pin to his or her lanyard each year to share with others that they, in one way or another, make it possible for us to continue to offer great programming and activities for curious senior adults in Central Texas. Will you consider becoming a Lifelong Learning volunteer?

Lifelong Learning operates under the auspices of the Mayborn Museum. Every time you sign up for a session or event with Lifelong Learning, we have these folks to thank for their seamless execution.

Rebecca Nall handles the media and communications for Lifelong Learning. The emails, newsletters and catalogs all come through Rebecca.

Sherry DeHay manages Mayborn volunteers and documents the countless hours of volunteer time spent on our programs.

Cindee Millard and Amber Hanson are in charge of course and special interest group development and evaluations… a job that grows each and every session!

Drew Triplet handles event and class registration and makes sure that participants are greeted and get to the right places for their sessions.

Misty Thornton coordinates and keeps up with our annual memberships.

We could not run the Lifelong Learning program without the expertise and resources of the Mayborn Museum. We are grateful for their commitment to our program.

Cindee Millard and Sherry DeHay at the June Leadership Team Meeting

Glazed? Cinnamon sugar? Chocolate with sprinkles? Twin brothers and Baylor alumni Eric Wren (BA '14) and Jackson Wren (BBA '15, J.D. '20) serve a variety of mouth-watering flavors of croissant-dough donuts at Nightlight Donuts & Coffee.

Jackson Wren started his first business around age 12 with his brother Eric. They started a car detailing company called Cool Cat Car Care and that’s when Jackson fell in love with creating & building businesses. While at Baylor, the brothers also created Dapper Bear Clothiers, a collegiate apparel company specializing in clothing designed in the Official Baylor Plaid.

Jackson and Kate Kooiker (COO of Nightline Donuts) spoke with the Baylor Alumni Connect program as part of their Made in Waco series. You can see their talk here.