In just a few days, summer will be over, and it’s back to school for everyone–adults, too. Many institutions offer continuing education classes all year, but enrollment surges in the fall as people step into that familiar September groove.
What to take? Who teaches it? Where can it lead? RedEye looked at the stories and trends in Chicago’s curriculum of adult education classes.
Continuing education reflects pop culture’s trends, fads
Movies, books or the latest hipster fad find their way into adult education programs.
Swing is so five years ago, program directors report. People used to pack the dance classes, but now other techniques such as belly dancing or West African dance draw more attention.
The Old Town School of Folk Music is still feeling ripples from “O’ Brother Where Art Thou?”, the Cohen brothers film that fueled a surging interest in bluegrass music.
“The banjo is seeing a bit of a comeback. Bluegrass music overall has seen a revival,” says Kerry Sheehan, education program director at the Old Town School, which will offer 450 adult classes in the fall.
At the Latin School’s Live and Learn program, knitting and martini making is popular, according to Lynne Wellen, program director.
“What’s hot goes really well,” she says of enrollment and points to a few examples: In the wake of the CBS hit “CSI,” a class on forensic medicine sold out. After 9/11, Islam was a popular class. And, when the SARS story was in the news, no one took the Chinatown tour.
Meanwhile, longstanding classes such as painting, Italian and basic cooking always do well.
The other trend is one-time commitments, says Wellen, who has directed the program for more than 20 years.
“We used to do a lot of series, now we offer a lot more one-night classes because that’s what people have time to do.”
The Old Town School’s Sheehan agrees but says the old standards, such as guitar and vocal classes, usually stay packed too.
The school’s ensemble classes not only fill up each session, but often with the same students.
“The Beatles, honky tonk, early country, Indigo Girls ensembles–people take them and take them, and then they play out in bars together. They’re getting gigs,” Sheehan explains.–a.n.
Starting list
Chicago is teeming with options for adult education classes. Many colleges, museums and neighborhood schools offer enrichment programs open to the general public. The list of organizations below just brushes the surface but might spark a few ideas of where to look.
Dance
Lou Conte, hubbardstreetdance.com
Ruth Page, ruthpage.com
Latin Street Dancing, laboriqua.com
Language
– Berlitz Language Center, languagecenter.berlitz.com/Chicago
– Alliance Francaise, afchicago.com
– Japan America Society of Chicago, www.us-japan.org/jasc
Cooking
– Chopping Block, choppingblock.net
– Sur La Table, surlatable.com
Music
– Chicago Center for Performing Arts, theaterland.com
– Old Town School of Folk Music, oldtownschool.org
Film
– Facets, www.facets.org
Science
– Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum, www.adlerplanetarium.org
– The Field Museum, www.fmnh.org
Multiple subjects
– Discovery Center, discoverycenter.cc
– Francis W. Parker School, parkereveningcourses.org
– Harold Washington College, hwashington.ccc.edu
– Live and Learn, www.latinschool.org/liveandlearn
–A.N.
What to consider before you sign up for adult classes
Don’t jump in and write a check for the first class you come across.
Many organizations offer the same classes, so it’s worthwhile doing a little research first.
Consider your goals:
Are you a serious student ready to commit to a weekly class for three months?
Or do you want to dip a toe in first?
Also evaluate the school. Spanish class at the city’s Spanish cultural center, Instituto Cervantes, will have more choices and language immersion opportunities.
The Latin School’s Live and Learn has 10 language courses along with 280 other offerings this fall, but it costs less in time and money.
RedEye compares adult education classes for three popular subjects:
Painting
– Art Institute, www.artic.edu/saic/public: 3 hours, 14 weeks, $600 (materials not included)
– Lill Street Art Center, lillstreet.com: 3 hours, 10 weeks, $270 (materials not included)
– Museum of Contemporary Art, www.mcachicago.org: 3 hours, 8 weeks, $235 (including materials)
– Live and Learn, www.latinschool.org/liveandlearn: 2 hours, 6 classes, $120 (materials not included)
– Chicago Park District, chicagoparkdistrict.com: 2 hours, 12 weeks, $0-$40 (materials sometimes provided)
Improvisation
– Second City, secondcity.com: 2 1 1/42 hours, 8 weeks, $240
– Improv Olympic, improvolymp.com: 3 hours, 8 weeks, $225
– Players Workshop at the Chicago Center for the Performing Arts, theaterland.com: 8 weeks, $210
– Comedy Sportz, comedysportzchicago.com: 8 weeks, $200
– Comedy Company, chicagocomedyco.com: 2 1 1/42 hours, 8 weeks, $200
Spanish
– Berlitz Language Center, languagecenter.berlitz.com/Chicago: 2 hours, 6 weeks, $370 (including materials)
— Instituto Cervantes, cervantes1.org: 1 1 1/42 hours twice weekly, 10 weeks, $315 non-members (materials not included)
– Spanish Horizons, spanishhorizons.com: 2 hours, 8 weeks, $230 (including materials)
– Live and Learn, www.latinschool.org/liveandlearn: 1 1 1/42 hours, 8 weeks, $135 (including materials)
Discovery Center, discoverycenter.cc: 1 1 1/42 hours, 6 weeks, $95 (including materials)–a.n.
From students to teachers
When Rochelle Calhoun moved to Chicago six years ago and didn’t know a soul, salsa class sounded like a good way to meet some people and get a little exercise.
“I started taking one class a week, then twice a week. Three months in, I was taking four classes a week. I was there all the time,” Calhoun says
Now, Calhoun, 32, teaches at the studio where she learned her first moves, Latin Street Dancing, and dances in the studio’s professional company.
“It’s something I could never give up. It’s become a huge part of who I am,” says Calhoun, who also maintains a full-time job as a site manager for an upscale catering company.
For some adults who take continuing education classes, what begins as a diversion ends up as an additional career.
“I call it my passion,” says Gerardo Rivera, 33, who is also an instructor at Latin Street Dancing. Rivera successfully auditioned for the dance company after a year and a half of lessons.
Rivera, a financial analyst by day, began classes with the objective of teaching someday.
Not so for Cathy Norden, 37, who already played piano and guitar when she decided to take a class at the Old Town School of Folk Music.
“I started with the goal of having something to do and expanding my social life, until I walked in and felt at home and wanted to have as much to do with Old Town School as possible,” says Norden, a real estate lawyer.
Norden teaches adult guitar classes and gives private guitar and piano lessons at Old Town School.
Mary Peterson, 48, also followed the path from student to instructor. She enrolled in her first Old Town School class in 1987 and loaded up with different classes.
Peterson jokes that she started teaching in 1994 to save the school money.
“They had to hire me, because it was cheaper than giving me all those lessons for free all the time.” — A.N.
Tap dancing or bondage?
Depending on your interests, the Discovery Center has either the largest range of classes or the weirdest mix of stuff.
Students can learn how to flirt, use self-hypnosis to make money or open a bed and breakfast. More basic courses include standard bookkeeping, tap dance and beginning photography. Then there’s always Class 3651, “An Introduction to Bondage and Domination.”
“I like giving people an opportunity to find something that interests them,” said Bob Wagner, founder and director of the Discovery Center, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
“The bondage class continues to do well, so there’s obviously a market of people who can’t find that elsewhere,” he added.
The center is one of the city’s oldest places for adult education. Wagner said that financial backers initially were skeptical that people would take courses without grades and without the prospect of earning a degree.
“The YMCA did some stuff, but not like today where it’s well-known and well-accepted,” Wagner said.
The Discovery Center does not develop its own classes but acts more as a facilitator. It publishes a catalog of courses every six weeks that is distributed all over Chicago. The center also maintains a building, including dance studios and computer labs, although not all the classes take place at the facility.
Instructor Susan Bradley, who teaches flirting and seduction all over the world, said, “People come to my classes because they learn a way of applying it.”
“I teach people how to flirt and not look like they’re in heat.”
Jennifer Isham, a professional counselor, teaches a “boatload” of classes at the center, including “The Secret of Charisma” and “How to Talk to Anyone Anytime.”
Isham instructs her students to keep an open mind, in the spirit of the Discovery Center.
“I tell them to let go of expectations. If you knew what you wanted you wouldn’t need to take the class.” — A.N.
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Edited by Lara Weber (lweber@tribune.com) and Michael Morgan (mnmorgan@tribune.com)
