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Eckerd College
4200 54th Avenue South
St. Petersburg, FL 33711
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local: (727) 864-8834
The Academy of Senior Professionals
News
Baby Boomer Seminars at ASPEC
On Monday, April 29 and Friday, May 3, Eckerd College will host a two-part seminar on Baby Boomers and their expectations from continuing education and lifelong learning institutions as they enter their "third age." The seminars, scheduled from 2:00-5:00 p.m. each day in Lewis House, are free and open to the public with limited seating. Registration is required. For more information, call 727-864-8834 or email aspecrsvp@eckerd.edu. Click here to view the seminar schedule and registration form.
The following presenters will be featured: Nancy Schlossberg, Ph.D., an emerita professor of counseling psychology and author of several books on productive retirement, including Revitalizing Retirement; Maria Vesperi, Ph.D., a cultural anthropologist at New College of Florida and author of numerous publications, including City of Green Benches: Growing Old in a New Downtown; and Ms. Regina McCombs, an Emmy-winning faculty member at The Poynter Institute who finds new ways to tell stories on Web and mobile platforms, especially with video.
The seminars will explore four main questions: Who are the current Baby Boomers and what are their expectations from continuing education and lifelong learning institutions? What programs and approach should continuing education and lifelong learning institutions offer Baby Boomers? How are Baby Boomers engaging in the digital world? How do you communicate with Baby Boomers and engage them in continuing education and lifelong learning?
Seminar attendees will include experts in lifelong learning and marketing to Baby Boomers, members from ASPEC and OLLI, and interested persons from the local community.
Click here for a PDF of the seminar schedule and registration form
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ASPEC Debate Team
On Saturday, April 27, at 1:30 PM, in the Lewis House Atrium, Leonard and Naomi Block are hosting an ethics debate similar to those seen in the Ethics Bowls across the country. Here’s a Who’s Who run down of those who with participating in this afternoon of fun.
A retired dentist, Leonard Block has coached past Eckerd Debate Teams to victory in the National Ethics Bowl. Naomi Block, a retired philosophy professor partnered with Leonard, and has led the current Ethical Issues Interest Group at ASPEC for the last several months.
With Naomi as coach, Team ASPEC is composed of Barbara Bird, Woody Dulin, Chrissy Jackson, Lorraine Franckle, and Bill Oglesby.
Barbara has a PhD in French, and is a retired college professor. Woody is a retired IBM employee and real estate investor. Chrissy is a retired property management consultant and professional speaker. Lorraine is a retired heart surgeon. Bill worked at the United States Agency for International Development.
Steve Weppner is coaching the Eckerd College Team, composed of Kirk Eason, Anthony Leyh, Ryan Jarrett, Kate Hamilton, and Craig Bothwell.
Kirk is a lawyer, an Eckerd grad and former participant in Eckerd Ethics Bowls. Anthony is an Eckerd senior with majors in philosophy and Italian, and an Eckerd Ethics Bowl participant. Ryan is an Eckerd Senior majoring in economics and also an Eckerd Ethics Bowl participant. Kate, an Eckerd grad who majored in sociology and participated in Eckerd Ethics Bowls, is now a freshman at Stetson studying law. Craig majored in business, is an Eckerd grad who currently works in business, and has participated in previous Eckerd Ethics Bowls. All are Phi Beta Kappa.
The judges for the afternoon debate are George Sherman, an instructor at St. Pete College and head of the Southeast Ethics Bowl Region; Val Galina, a guidance counselor in Largo Middle School; and Stacy Greenberg, a Master Social Worker who is working at an international adoption agency.
Leonard Block will serve as moderator for the debate. There are three potential cases. Each team has prepared to debate each of the three. Only two will be actually debated – depending on the draw.
The three cases from which the two will be chosen are these: Prenatal Testing, Freedom of Speech for Corporations, and Anorexia Nervosa.
Light refreshments will follow the debate. Come support your team, enjoy an afternoon of fun and see an ethical debate process.
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ASPEC 2013 Member Art Show
ASPEC has quite a few members who are artists. Some participate in the ASPEC Studio Arts Group led by Camille Skluzacek and Helen Parramore, while some work independently or with other teachers. Artwork includes photography, drawing, and painting in all media. ASPEC artists have hung over twenty paintings, drawings and photographs for our 2013 Member Art Show running now through June at Lewis House on the Eckerd College campus. Subjects include people, a floating cow, outer space, flying kites, as well as unique views of nature. Some works are for sale. A portion of the purchase price will be used for furthering the goals of the Visual Arts Committee. A reception honoring all artists will be held beginning at 5 PM on Thursday evening, April 18. Artists will be available to talk about their works. The reception and exhibit is open to the public.
ASPEC Arts Council Leader Ann Rascoe with her painting "Flight"
Camille Skluzacek with her watercolor, "Irises Unleashed"
Clark Lambert with his photograph "Slot Canyon Afternoon Sun"
Elise Morin Farnsworth with her painting "Portrait of Martha"
Kay Sherman with "Tess & Tank "Do" Central Park"
Mary Ellyn Stickley with "Kites Aloft"
Martha Sweeny with "Abstract"
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ASPEC and the Sanderlin IB World School
The Academy of Senior Professionals at Eckerd College (ASPEC) has been honored on two occasions recently for its efforts on behalf of the Sanderlin IB World School.
Firstly, ASPEC was nominated by Sanderlin’s administration as “Business Partner of the Year.” At an event sponsored by the Pinellas County Education Foundation, ASPEC received a certificate acknowledging this nomination. The new Superintendent of Schools for Pinellas County, Dr. Michael Grego, and Sanderlin Principal, Dr. Denise Miller presented the certificate to Ken Wolfe (ASPEC Director) and Julia Lewis (ASPEC Senate President).
Secondly, since Sanderlin IB World School recently raised its Academic grade level two steps, the school, its Principal and former Assistant Principal were honored by Mayor Foster as recipients of his Top Apple award (along with many other schools in St. Petersburg). This award is given to schools who raise their academic grade level or who maintain an A level. Once again, Sanderlin’s administration honored ASPEC as its “Community Partner”, giving us credit for helping the school and its students to achieve this new status. The Mayor presented ASPEC’s President and Director with a plaque commemorating this award which is on display at Lewis House.
ASPEC members serve as mentors and reading tutors at the school. They also provide financial support, especially in the area of scholarships for Sanderlin students to attend the Summer Science Splash Camp at Eckerd College, each year, in July.
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ASPEC members featured in critically-acclaimed film
2013 is the year commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
Halina and Edward Herman are members of ASPEC. They are also both child Holocaust survivors, born in Warsaw, Poland. Halina survived the war living with a Christian family, Edward survived the Warsaw ghetto, a hell on earth. In August 2011, Ed and Halina travelled back to Warsaw for the first time after an absence of 68 years, to attend the World Federation of Jewish Child Survivors of the Holocaust. It was their fiftieth wedding anniversary.
While in Poland, they and several of the other Survivors, became a part of the film “Never Forget to Lie,” directed by Marian Marzynski , which addresses the wartime experiences of a number of children who survived the Holocaust. The film retraces the years of their lost childhoods. It revisits some of the locations where they were hiding during the war. It explores childhood feelings about the war years in Poland, reawakens old suppressed memories, bringing back the pain and suffering endured during the war years. It explores the ramifications of identities forged under circumstances where survival began with the directive to the children“Never Forget to Lie”.
The film has become critically-acclaimed with a series of theater showings across the US, including St. Petersburg, New York, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami as well as in various European capital cities.
The film will be shown locally at the Baywalk Muvico Theater in downtown St. Petersburg on Monday, February 11 at 7:30 pm, and will be broadcast on PBS Frontline on April 30, 2013.
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Director Marian Marzynski, was born in Poland and survived the Holocaust as a Jewish child hidden by Christians. He has been making documentary films for over 50 years, initially in Poland, where during the '60s he was one of the pioneers of "cinema verite." For the last 30 years Marzynski has worked in the United States. He was a Guggenheim Fellow in 1982 and won two Emmy Awards for his documentaries. He is a major contributor to such PBS series as The American Experience, NOVA and Frontline. Several of his previous films have dealt with the subject of the Holocaust. These include Return to Poland (1982), and Jewish Mother (1984). The three hour long film Shtetl (1996), became the most important work of his career. In 2005 he produced a film for Frontline, called A Jew Amongst the Germans---the story of building a memorial in Berlin to the murdered Jews of Europe.
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Is ASPEC the Place for You?
Are you excited by the idea of enriching your retirement in a welcoming, supportive community while you:
- engage in peer led learning
- work with college students
- volunteer in the community
- have fun and make friends
Come and try us out and see if ASPEC is the place you want to be. Click here for membership information.
