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I thought about that place many times
And walked along the street,

And peered into those

Big, friendly rooms.

I thought, "I'll know no one."

"I'll not know what to say."

And then one day

I opened wide the door

And someone said, "Hello,
Come on in."

My heart leaped

As I made that step

To be greeted by

A friendly voice,

A great big smile.

Now, I no longer walk the streets.
I've found new friends.

I keep busy with games and visiting,

And I've learned a thing or two.

I've gone on some trips

And found that someone cares

For me and you.

Now I chat and laugh in little groups

And have such fun.

And I no longer

Feel

Lonely.

:

ITEM 3. "DARE" PROGRAM PROPOSAL, SUBMITTED BY SHIRLEY OVERLAND

DEVELOPING ADULT RESOURCES THROUGH EDUCATION (DARE)

A unified delivery system for educational services to older Americans in the city of Huron

Name of primary agencies: Huron College Community Learning Center, and the Huron Area Senior Center.

Name of cooperating organizations and institutions: Retired Teachers Association; National Association of Retired Federal Employees; Community Counseling; CMA colleges; Briar Cliff, Buena Vista, Dakota Wesleyan University, Dordt, Mount Marty, Northwestern, Sioux Falls, Westmar, Yankton.

Project director: Shirley M. Overland, director, Huron Area Senior Center, Inc.

THE COMMUNITY PROBLEM

Older persons and continuing education.-There is a great national concern about "lifelong learning" and providing educational services to older Americans. Colleges and universities, partly due to declining enrollments of younger students, have identified retired persons as a new potential clientele. These institutions have generally taken two steps to recruit older persons as students. The first has been to lower fees for traditional courses. The second has been to create a curriculum of activities that younger educators have decided older Americans want: arts, crafts, estate planning, knitting, etc. Both these approaches tend to force the older American into a younger framework and stereotype their educational activities.

Many of these programs have failed in three respects: (1) Colleges have not acted to adapt the traditional liberal arts disciplines to the particular needs of older persons or trained their facilities to do so; (2) They have failed to adequately consult with the older persons themselves as to their educational needs and desires; (3) Finally, they have ended up as just one more agency competing for the attentions, time and dollars of older persons. They have failed to provide a comprehensive educational program utilizing all the resources of the communities in which older persons reside.

The Need-A unified delivery system.—The way to solve the above problems is to devise mechanisms whereby older persons are carefully consulted in planning educational programs and the resources of the entire community are utilized to serve them. In many communities, the senior center is the best catalyst for this unified system, although few centers perform the function. In communities where there is an institution of higher education, the opportunity exists to utilize the senior center as a focal point for the continuing education program with the assistance of the professional educators. That dual sponsorship furnishes an ideal foundation for a unified system.

Huron-An ideal laboratory for a unified system.-Huron and vicinity has a very high population of older persons. While one in eight in South Dakota is a senior citizen, in the Huron area one-fourth of the population is 55 years of age and older. The Huron Area Senior Center has over 700 members and is one of the most successful centers in the State. Huron College, Presbyterian related, has 356 students and a new community learning center office concerned with adult education.

(1) The senior center educational program: In late 1974, Shirley Overland, director of the Huron Area Senior Center, called together representatives of various community organizations and agencies, including Huron College. She later held a series of sharing meetings with senior center representatives. As a result, the center launched its first educational programs, which included first aid, defensive driving, tips for shoppers, and modified home nursing.

(2) The liberal arts for older Americans program: In fall of 1974, Huron College proposed (and was funded under title I) a liberal arts for older Ameri

1 Please note that the new proposal herein is not a request to continue the LAOA program. The original LAOA program was narrow in scope and. while the DARE proposal contains components of LAOA and builds on its findings, the new proposal attacks a larger and different problem-the construction of an integrated delivery system for educational services.

cans program. This program was designed to identify the particular learning needs of older persons and attempt to adapt traditional liberal arts disciplines to those needs. This process of planning and conducting nine courses was designed to train faculty members and produce guidelines for planning future learning experiences. This program was instituted in summer, 1975, and 45 older persons participated in the first four courses. Three more courses were begun on October 7 (with 55 participants) and three more are planned for the coming calendar year.

(3) The Huron College "live-n-learn" senior center proposal: Discussions have been proceeding for approximately 6 months between Huron College and the Huron Area Senior Center as to the possibility of converting a large college residence hall, McDougall Hall, into a senior center and living quarters for older persons. The importance of this proposal to future educational programs is obvious. A senior "live-n-learn" center would have potential for educational activities unique to the State of South Dakota and found in few locations in the Nation.

(4) Interaction thus far: Huron College personnel participated in the center's initial planning of its educational program, and its members and director serve on the steering committee for LAOA. There has been a trend toward more unified direction of all the learning experiences available within the community with the focus at the senior center and with the college furnishing staff and administrative assistance for the liberal arts portion of the program. However, to this point, these efforts have continued to have fragmented and overlapping administration.

The establishment of the community learning center at Huron College this fall completes the authority structure that would make possible a workable unified system. The time has come to merge programs in a community that has demonstrated the leadership to develop a unified educational system for older persons.

The DARE program and the State plan for community service and continuing education.-The State plan calls for a "unified delivery system for continuing education," and that is precisely what the Huron College Community Learning Center is attempting to develop in Huron and the vicinity. The DARE program is intended as one component in a comprehensive program designed, in the words of the amendment to "make a fuller and better use of existing resources of traditional postsecondary institutions" and to "provide access for greater numbers of citizens to postsecondary continuing education, including a broader range in age and socioeconomic levels."

The amendment places special emphasis on the educational needs of older persons, describing their need for better delivery systems as "one of South Dakota's crucial social needs." On page 6, the amendment devotes considerable space to the problem of "improving access in educational opportunities for older Americans."

Huron College has been in the vanguard of the attempt to improve that access. The LAOA program has been successful. The institution acted this past spring to reduce tuition for older persons. The offer of McDougall Hall as a possible senior center for Huron residents is indicative of the college's commitment to better education for older persons in the region. Direction of the program.-Toward rural problems,

Objective. To develop a unified delivery system for educational services to older persons in Huron.

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NARRATIVE REPORT

The goals of the DARE program.-The DARE program is designed to produce the following results:

(1) Provide a mechanism for unifying existing and future educational programs for older persons in the Huron area;

(2) Furnish additional on the educational needs of older persons; and

(3) Utilize the educational resources of the entire Huron community to meet the needs of older persons.

Specific objectives of the DARE program.-The DARE program is intended to produce these results:

(1) A minimum of 24 short noncredit learning experiences for older persons. (a) To be offered in four phases beginning September 1976, January 1976, April 1976, and June 1976.

(b) Each learning experience to normally last an equivalent of 10 contact hours (continuing education unit equivalent).

(c) Precise subjects and formats to be decided by the director in consultation with the advisory committee and older persons involved the process for consulting them.

(d) To include a liberal arts component (9 courses) and a basic needs component (15 courses).

(e) To be taught by a combination of Huron College faculty and community resource persons.

(2) A process for regular consultation with older persons on their educational needs, thereby developing a model workable for other communities.

(3) A unified planning, organizing, and publicity system for the learning program, supervised by Huron Area Senior Center staff and with educational and administrative assistance from the Huron College Community Learning Center.

(4) A training process for Huron College faculty centered on the planning of the liberal arts component of the learning program.

(5) A refined set of guidelines for planning learning experiences for older persons.

(6) An educational model to be utilized in the event that the "live-n-learn" senior center becomes a reality in McDougall Hall on the Huron College campus. (7) A 1-day model workshop designed by the Huron College Community Learning Center to be shared with participating institutions in the colleges of midAmerica consortium for the purpose of helping these institutions develop their own programs for older persons. Workshops to be presented during 1977-78. Procedures for achieving the DARE objectives.-The DARE program will employ:

(1) An advisory committee consisting of 10 members, including 3 senior center members, and the director, 2 Huron College faculty, and 2 representatives each from the Retired Teacher's Association and the National Association for Retired Federal Employees.

(2) Five educator-senior consultants-persons who have been educators and are older persons. They are:

Dr. Phillipp Mergler, former dean of Huron College;

Mr. Frank Smith, former Huron College dean and economics professor;
Miss Gladys Pyle, former public school teacher;

Miss Bea Koch, former college professor:

Miss Leta James, former public school teacher.

(3) Two outside consultants on aging and education (via telephonic consultation):

C. B. Lord, associate director, Georgia Center for Continuing Education. James Peterson, liaison officer between the Ethel Percy Gerontology Center, University of Southern California, and the NRTA-AARP, Los Angeles, Calif.

(4) The consultant services of Central South Dakota Community Counseling Services.

(5) The administrative and educational assistance of the Huron College Community Learning Center and the college's support offices, including public information, academic affairs, and the business office.

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