POMPTON PLAINS, NJ – Last year, Cedar Crest was chosen as the first retirement community in the nation to form an affiliation with Elderhostel and offer an on-site Institute for Learning in Retirement (ILR) program. The first semester, which launched in October 2006, provided high-caliber, college-level courses to members of the Cedar Crest community. It was a big hit and the second semester begins in February 2007.
“I really enjoyed the classes I took last semester,” said Irene Buff. “In fact, I took two classes last semester and plan to take two more this semester.”
Cedar Crest’s affiliation was spearheaded by resident Marge Wyngaarden, who also founded the Institute for Learning in Retirement at Bergen Community College in 1999. That program now serves 800 older adults with a wide range of courses, some of which Marge teaches. Having founded one ILR at the college, Marge wanted to duplicate her effort at Cedar Crest.
“There are 350 institutes throughout the United States,” she said. “They are all affiliated with Elderhostel, but until now they were also all connected to colleges and universities. So I spoke at length with a woman I know at Elderhostel to see if there was any chance we could have one here at Cedar Crest.”
Although Elderhostel prefers affiliations with colleges to ensure that college-level courses are offered, Marge assured her contact that the courses at Cedar Crest would be top-notch. Happily, Elderhostel agreed to make Cedar Crest the nation’s first retirement community to have an ILR.
“There’s a lot of talent here among the residents,” said Marge. “For example, last semester, an attorney who lives at Cedar Crest taught a course about Supreme Court decision making, while a retired Montclair State University professor, who is also a resident, taught a class called ‘Getting the Most Out of Mozart.’”