"Senior Center Members Share Talents at Local School"

J.T. Henley Middle School sponsors an Activity Period program to provide students the opportunity to explore new hobbies. On January 19th, Senior Center members shared talents and possibly piqued the interest of a new generation through a variety of presentations. Students learned about wood carving from Luther Gore of the Albemarle Carvers; ballroom dancing from Jean Zoumbaris and Bev Whitlock, participants in the variety of ballroom dancing opportunities at the Senior Center; fishing from John Mesinger of the Kingfishers, and creative writing from Betty Kollar of the Writing for Pleasure group. Our volunteer photographer, Al Highsmith, took pictures throughout the day and these are in the scrapbook in De Lawter Room.

Chuck Miller, the J.T. Henley teacher and organizer of the Activity Period program, saw great potential for a mutually beneficial experience for the kids and the seniors, and worked with the Center’s Travel Coordinator, Linda Hahn, to make his vision a reality.

According to Linda, "The J.T. Henley Activity was a HUGE success! The school administration was thrilled, especially with Ballroom Dancing that attracted over 40 very enthusiastic students. The school even requested that the ballroom dancers come back – to teach a session for the teachers!"

After the program, Mr. Miller wrote to Linda, "Thanks so much for your great idea about involving the folks from the Senior Center with Activity Period…I think that the sessions were definitely "hits" with the kids who attended them."