A Writing Class for Older Adults A. CHANGE GOAL

The educational, social, and recreational activities of this particular retirement facility are spearheaded by a committee of representatives of the people who live there. These are retired professionals, mostly well-educated and well-traveled. They are busy and self-sufficient although nearing their final years of life. Most of them have elected to live in the retirement facility because of the ease of living--community dining, nearby medical staff, and organized social structure. The committee members are elected by the residents of the hotel and are the recognized vocal spokesmen for the facility. Many people in the hotel, especially the women, wan

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with the program committee to discuss plans for the class. The group decides to hold an afternoon forum for all in the facility who might have interest and helpful ideas for the writing class. It is decided that the forum will be a social event with refreshments in order to draw the largest possible attendance. Such a meeting is held the following month and the turn out was good. Several interesting points came up in the discussion, which lasted about an hour. Many individuals stated that they had a need to record in writing their life memories. There was a strong feeling that their experiences had been important and would be of interest to family members if written in an organized fashion (Wolf, 1992, p. 21). A few individuals requested that the class be coordinated with an already existing public television course on writing. They knew of this course' existence and needed personal support in keeping up with it (Gibson, 1992, p. 18). At the discussion meeting a few individuals requested assistance with the use of computers. The recreation department had been given a computer by a local office supply firm, and no one knew how to use it. Others have personal computers in their apartments and would like help in combining
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Activity Director, Activity Coordinator, Community Services, City College, Adult Learning, DISTRICT CHANGE, Services Coordinator, References Brockett, Press Wolf, writing class, community services, November/December Alphabet, city college, activity director, city college community, services division, adult learning, college community, coordinator activity, college community services, retirement facility, community services division, development writing class, coordinator activity director, program committee,
Approximate Word count = 1297
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)