Seniors make an impact with Taber Adult Learning
Seniors were celebrated across Canada earlier this month with Seniors Week, and their impact has been an enormous one with Taber Adult Learning (TAL).
“Our volunteer tutor program definitely wouldn’t exist without seniors. Our senior tutors bring a lot to the table. One of the biggest things they bring is a flexible schedule. They can meet with learners that maybe need a daytime tutor or in evenings,” said Rebekah Fehr, volunteer tutor program co-ordinator and project manager for TAL. “Another thing is their life experience that they bring. Their different interests make for a diverse tutor group, and they can connect with a wide variety of people. Seniors often have really good people skills as well.”
Many seniors who help tutor are retired educators, giving them a strong base and confidence in helping the learners feel comfortable, according to Fehr. One of those former local educators is Ray Sheen, who taught for 35 years, the majority of years at W.R. Myers, D.A. Ferguson and Central schools. Sheen answered the call to help tutor when his daughter headed up the Youth Employment Program, asking him to help with students GED needs for the last half dozen years. Tutoring has been on various subjects, primarily math, with TAL.
“I’ve worked primarily with older adults. I’ve really enjoyed the friendships I’ve gained and they are life-long friends,” said Sheen, adding some learners he has encountered are a quarter century past their childhood educational years. “It’s good to see that improvement in people’s lives. They are more confident, more assertive. Some have the PR skills already, they just need that formal certificate to take that next step.”
A whole two or three generations older than some of the learners that come through the doors at TAL, Sheen’s life experience shows students how current events and past history have shaped their everyday life today.
“When some of these learners have only gone to Grade 6, you miss all that Canadian and world history, the war history. Yet, on these GEDs they refer to some of these things. It can seem like it’s stuff from another planet. I sometimes wonder how they pass,” said Sheen with a chuckle, who turns 86 in August. “When they come from a background where maybe education wasn’t very important. Teaching them, and they’ve only achieved Grade 5 or 6 level. Having them learn these GED things that are high-school level without a whole lot of background they pick up in junior high or Grade 10 or 11, it’s amazing that they can pass these tests, making that big leap. It’s fantastic what they are doing, and hopefully it can spread out in their family, community and social groups, and have an affect on their entire society and encourage them to get a higher level of education than they have.”
Helping TAL since last November, Richard and Denise Sugden were still in the afterglow of their 18-month mission in New York, with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, teaching ESL to Spanish people.
“It’s amazing how long people can live in an English-speaking country and get along without ever speaking English. We had people in that class who had been in America for years upon years upon years who had never spoken English,” said Denise. “It is the bigger areas, you just go to areas that speak Spanish. They create their own little worlds, but they can’t fully function and can’t get ahead. Learning English gives you so many more opportunities.”
Denise and Richard have both been doing ESL tutoring on Tuesday nights at TAL, with Richard also transitioning to helping GED students in math primarily, with a smattering of reading comprehension.
“We really loved that experience (in
New York) and when we came back and did our two-week quarantine, we were contacted about the opportunity to do this. We jumped at it because we had such a good experience,” said Denise. “I’ve worked primarily with three women and it is exciting when you see them grasp and understand the language. One young person could read really well, but couldn’t understand the words. It was exciting to help her make that connection to what she was reading, saying something phonetically, to what that word actually meant to simple nouns, to concepts.”
Seniors and true empty nesters with none of their six children living in the Taber area, the Sugdens are happy they can serve the community. Taber Adult Learning gives a safe place for mature learners to practice their English and other skills, in a nurturing environment with the volunteer tutors.
“If nothing else, it gives him a chance to sit down and speak English to somebody and know they can practise putting sentences together,” said Richard.
“In a non-stressful situation,” added Denise. “I was in a store, and it was obvious the mother was trying to figure out what the sign said and it was a stressful situation in that moment. The more times I came (to tutor), the more they felt comfortable to talk about all sorts of things. You are creating a safe place for them to come and learn how to fit into Canada.”
It has been a learning experience for Richard and Denise as well. The couple love Mexico, but admit all they know is of the sandy beaches and ‘touristy’ places, many of which the Mexican Mennonites did not immigrate from.
“I always wondered why would you want to come to Canada (with the colder weather), when they had so many beautiful areas. I had that kind of conversation with someone here doing ESL and she said how we were warm here in the winter because you have a furnace. They have no furnaces down there, so when you’re cold, you’re cold, they have no way to heat,” said Denise. “It’s good to have these conversations because you know where they are coming from. Learning more background about anyone, you have more understanding why they are who they are.”
Richard and Denise smile, saying tutoring helps keep them young. Denise grins, adding she heard her brother-inlaw say when you are retired, there are two days of the week - Sundays and six Saturdays. Often you can lose track to which day of the week it is, having a less regimented schedule than in the 9-to-5 days of life.
“As seniors, for the first time in our lives, all we have is time on our hands. You can sit around and do jigsaw puzzles or watch TV, or pull yourself out every once in awhile and help your community,” said Denise.
Richard had been in the law profession since 1980 and officially retired in 2018. Denise raised six children, while teaching piano and doing many church-related activities.
“When you retire, it’s nice to do something and help with an organization like Taber Adult Learning,” said Richard. “We are glad for the opportunity to help people.”
Richard and Denise encourage other seniors, and anyone for that matter to give tutoring a try in how rewarding it can be. Any fears one may have that they are a worthy teacher are calmed by the tools Rebekah Fehr, volunteer tutor program co-ordinator and project manager for TAL, gives tutors.
“I think there would be that hesitation from people who say ‘ohhhhh, I can’t do that.’ I found my first evening I came to tutor someone for the first time, I hadn’t had much training, and I was a little bit unsure. But after that, it’s not that hard really,” said Richard. “They give you the materials and the curriculum.”
“You are not just coming down here and flying by the seat of your pants. Someone else is helping set it up for you.
They offer webinars to listen to, to give you some self-training if you want as well,” added Denise.
Marilyn Visser has been an on-and-off tutor for Taber Adult Learning since the 1980s. In fact, she was the Adult Literacy co-ordinator from 2009-2012. A woman of many hats, she has helped adult learners in Families Learning Together, GED, ESL and to earn citizenship.
Visser helps with citizenship tests for people walking through the doors of Taber Adult Learning. It appeals to her, because she too was a new Canuck, coming over from the United States.
“It’s going over Canadian history, Canadian geography, Canadian government and rights and responsibilities as a citizen. Not being a natural-born Canadian myself, I had to learn a lot about that myself. I was learning along with the students,” Visser. “And that’s my natural bent anyway, I really like Social Studies and government. In history, you can learn about the same event from two different perspectives. Learning about Canadian history and American history, you can learn about the same event from different points of view and you wonder ‘jeepers, is this even the same thing’?”
Not only is Visser teaching adult learners about Canada to earn citizenship, that learning curve goes both ways.
“You also get to learn about their countries and where they are from. I can understand lots of times how difficult it can be to get allegiance to a new country because you still have that allegiance to the old country as well,” said Visser. “Just about everyone I have tutored has been very, very happy they are in Canada and are anxious to be Canadians.”
Helping her adult students learn new things, Visser gets the satisfaction as a senior in seeing the people she helps achieve their goals, while also expanding her world view.
“When you see them pass their GED test, or a citizenship or a language test they have to pass before they can even take the citizenship course,” said Visser. “I just like to teach and getting to know the people. You get to learn about other people from other cultures and learn about them.”
If you would like to learn more about volunteering opportunities with Taber Adult Learning, you can call Rebekah Fehr at 403-223-1169 or email projects@taberadultlearning.com.