Over 80 community members, including several Rochelle Township High School students attended Thursday evening's event highlighting the continuing education opportunities available.
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ROCHELLE — Attending college isn’t just to prepare for adulthood. In fact people are encouraged to continue to learn throughout their lifetimes for many reasons including career changes, advancement, developing additional skills or even maintaining brain cognition.
Over 80 people attending Thursday evening’s 16th annual State of the Community dinner, hosted by the League of Women Voters and Rochelle Chamber of Commerce, heard about ways to keep learning for a lifetime.
The event, featuring guests speakers affiliated with Kishwaukee College and Northern Illinois University, highlighted various continuing education opportunities available for adult learners, including programs where participants’ average 65 years of age.
Jerry Smith discussed the Lifelong Learning Institute, which is affiliated with NIU. These courses are available to anyone over the age of 50 and have a curiosity and love of learning. Smith said the average age for LLI is between 65 and 70 years old. Available in either four-week or eight-week terms, these returning students pay a flat fee and can attend as many classes as they choose. The class topics range from baseball and Elvis to Van Gogh, national parks and monuments in Chicago and many in between.
Current course offerings tailored to adult learners at Kishwaukee College and Northern Illinois University were discussed. Along with the traditional Associates and Bachelors Degrees, several other options for continuing education include basic skills development, English as a second language classes, high school equivalency courses, and short-term training.
Many of the courses available at NIU and Kishwaukee College now are online, or a partial online course called a hybrid class.
John Cowan from Northern Illinois University explained the adult learner is someone typically over 24 years of age with varying reasons why they might not have continued their education immediately after high school. Those could include serving in the military, child-rearing or anyone that could be considered the head of their household.
“There are 47 certificate programs available and Kishwaukee is also starting to develop short-term training courses for those looking who might need to get started in their chosen career,” said Joanne Kantner, Kishwaukee College.
Kantner said the college staff is looking at expanding their offerings in fields such as a dental assistant, sterile process training, and hydroponic courses.
“When I visited with the three guest speakers at lunch, I knew this was going to be one of the best presentations we have ever had,” said Diane McNeilly, League of Women Voters. “They all work together and they put on a terrific presentation.”
Several high school students enrolled in the Kishwaukee Education Consortium, KEC, also attended the event.
“It was great to see the students here. I think it was a great opportunity for all who attended to see what is available in our community, for the young and for all ages. We have to keep learning,” McNeilly said.
