Club Ed - the place where learning never ends

As appeared in Fall 2008 VISITORS GUIDE - KERRVILLE DAILY TIMES Contact: Phil Houseal, 257-2218, phil.houseal@kerrvilleisd.net

There is a place in Kerrville where people are kayaking down rivers, playing guitar, traveling to the Renaissance, planting native gardens, programming computers, and learning to tango.

That place is Club Ed - the community education program of the Kerrville Independent School District.

This award-winning and nationally recognized program is the place for learners of all ages Every spring and fall, Club Ed offers more than 150 local classes in the areas of computers, art, fitness, language, music, recreation, travel, and self-improvement. Students can go online to sign up for 400 more classes open year round from the convenience of home.

Club Ed is also the area's leading training center. Professional instructors lead custom training on computers, software, web site design, customer service, grantwriting, and other skills for nonprofit organizations, businesses, and individuals.

Besides being fun, Club Ed helps keep the mind sharp. Scientific research uncovered 10 benefits that come from lifelong learning:

1. leads to an enriching life of self-fulfillment
2. helps make new friends and establish valuable relationships
3. keeps one involved as active contributors to society
4. helps find meaning in our lives
5. helps adapt to change
6. makes the world a better place
7. increases wisdom
8. creates a curious, hungry mind
9. opens the mind
10. helps fully develop natural abilities

To enjoy these benefits is easy, according to Phil Houseal, Director. Catalogs are mailed to all hill country residents twice a year. Anyone interested in teaching or taking a class can visit www.clubed.net, call 830-895-4386, send an email to club.ed@kerrvilleisd.net, or stop by the Auld Center, 1121 Second Street, Kerrville TX 78028.

Football for Femmes?

by Phil Houseal Published in the (Kerrville TX) Community Journal, Sept 3, 2008

Most football players might have quit after their coach told them they were not the fastest player on the field, nor the best player on the field. Brendan Wilson's coach said both those things to him back in his playing days. But his coach also told him something else that changed Wilson's life.

"He told me that in spite of those limitations, I always knew where I was supposed to be on the field," Wilson said. "He said I ought to get into coaching."

After 11 years in the Army, Wilson did just that. He coached more than 10 years at all levels from junior high to college. While an assistant high school coach in Georgia, he helped lead his team to three state championships.

Never a super-sized person, Wilson played at around 180 pounds. He mastered literally every position, from long snapper to returning punts to doing a stint at quarterback. This journeyman approach helped him understand the game at a deeper level.

A self-described "football freak," Wilson loves the game and loves to help other people love it. He will teach a class this fall called "Football for Femmes," helping "football widows" gain an appreciation for the game. He plans to teach the basic terms, identify the positions, and explain the rules. Using tapes from his coaching days, and doing what he calls his "Chalk Talk," Coach Wilson will even draw up some basic strategies and plays.

At the last session, he'll have the class watch a televised professional game, complete with Super Bowl-style snacks and refreshments.

Why would someone so schooled in the intricacies of the game want to try to teach X's and O's to novices?

"I just love football so much," he said. "It just comes natural to me." And despite his love for the game, teaching it is not always easy. "It took about 10 years for my wife to understand the game. During one state championship game I coached, she finally realized what a first down was!"

Wilson now works at the Kerrville VA hospital as Division Manager for Environmental Management Services. But he is still involved in the sport, working as the TV analyst for all Tivy High School football games. He invites anyone wanting to share this love to sign up for his class.

"Because it will be fun and interesting," he said. "I will be open to any type of questions about football."

And he promises not to tell you how slow you are.

XXX

Brendan Wilson will teach Football for Femmes starting Sunday, Sept 14. To learn more about this and hundreds of other lifelong learning classes, call 830-895-4386, or visit www.clubed.net.

Master Your Dog

as published in the Community Journal, Kerrville TX by Phil Houseal, Aug 26, 2008


Yvonne Gerhardt set me straight right away: Dog obedience is not about teaching the dog; it is teaching the master.

Through the Club Ed dog obedience course, Gerhardt has helped hundreds of dog owners become better masters. She goes beyond heel, sit, stay, using "natural dogmanship" to help your dog learn its proper role in your "pack."

"We take the point of view of the dog," she explained. "Dogs are pack animals by nature. They have a hierarchy. Any dog will be happier when they have a pack leader."

The pack leader has to be the owner, a role some owners are reluctant to adopt. Lots of Gerhardt's training is focused on training the trainer.

"We won't let the owner drive the bus until they are comfortable with being in charge," she said.

Gerhardt has bred, trained, and showed dogs since 1976. She is also a veterinary technician, and works for the animal control department in Fredericksburg. The certified dog trainer has seen the gamut of issues when it comes to dog behavior.

She gets many calls from people seeking help with dogs that bite, jump on people, or won't come when called.

"We have had dogs that were nonsocial," she said. "When they left the training, the owners were finally able to take the dog to the vet without being bitten. Results all depend on the person and how hard they want to work with their dog."

Gerhardt recommends spending 15 minutes every day on training. Less than that, you get no results. More than 15 minutes, the dog loses interest.

Another point is that you cannot treat your pets as if they are people. They are not children. A dog doesn't know the difference between a $1000 collar and a piece of twine.

While Gerhardt believes in positive reinforcement, training is not all treats and petting. Again, her training methods parallel life in the dog pack.

"There are consequences in life, and consequences in training - if a dog does something wrong, you have to show them the right way," she said. Gerhardt used the example of a mother dog dealing with a puppy trying to get into her food dish. "First she stares, then shows her teeth. If the puppy still doesn't get the message, then she bites. But you always end on a positive."

Training dogs brings reward, sometimes in unexpected ways.

"People have called after taking this class and said you helped me in real life, you made me a leader. I was shy, and now I'm not. Or you've changed the way our family behaves."

One owner just wanted to have her dog walk on a leash without throwing a tantrum. Within 10 minutes, Gerhardt and the student had that dog walking.

"At the end of the class, that owner got a standing ovation and had tears in her eyes," Gerhardt said. "I get rewarded every time I see a dog walk out and become a good citizen. That owner got something good out of my class."

Gerhardt is so passionate about what she does, that she makes a surprising offer.

"Once you take my class, you can come back for free for the life of your dog," she said. "We want you and your dog to be happy."

XXX

Yvonne Gerhardt teaches a Dog Obedience class that begins Sept 8.

To learn more about this and hundreds of other lifelong learning classes, call 830-895-4386, or visit www.clubed.net.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District.

Ni hao! (nee-Ha-OW - that is hello in Chinese)

Published in the Community Journal (Kerrville TX) August 19, 2008

Those whose interest in the Far East is rising as a result of the Beijing Olympics can add to that knowledge with Club Ed. Next spring we are sponsoring a trip to China, and this fall you can start working on the language by taking Chinese Language.

Tatiana Authement teaches both Chinese and Russian. Tatiana is a native of Moscow, and spent time teaching and living in China, where she participated in a historic first I'll share later. So along with language instruction, she plans to pull back the Iron Curtain to give westerners a glimpse into daily life in the former Soviet Union.

And what a life. Tatiana's parents were dissidents, who actually met while held in one of the gulags. When Stalin died in 1953, the government released her parents.

Both were theater producers, so Tatiana grew up surrounded by artists, actors, and performing troupes that put on local productions.

"We would travel to peasant villages, and give little shows with singing, playing, and comedy," she recalled. Her father directed these shows, which were approved by the communist party line. But it was a way to spread culture to her countrymen. Young Tatiana was often cast in these local productions.

"I was performing bad characters mostly," she explained. "I was always the mischievous one - I played the witch types that went flying across the stage."

She eventually enrolled in Moscow University, and studied International business relations and the Chinese language.

In 1989 she traveled to China, where her life took an unexpected turn and she made a bit of history. Tatiana never particularly wanted to come to the United States, but she met and fell in love with an American. Both the U..S. and Soviet embassies in China refused to marry them, so they were married in a Chinese courthouse by Chinese officials. It was the first marriage between an American and a Soviet citizen ever performed in China.

Tatiana has lived in Texas since 1994. She finds most Americans to be very curious about Russia, but not always informed.

"People ask all sorts of questions about my life," she said. "The everyday stuff interests them. They know about Tchaikovsky and Dostoyevsky, but they don't know what the Russian people are like."

She finds many Americans hold onto stereotypes of Russian people left over from the cold war.

"People say to me, 'You can't be Russian... you don't look like a Russian!'"

To help educate us, Tatiana promises to add in a bit about the culture as well as the basics of the language.

"We have this great soul," she said. "Things like our little traditions and superstitions. If you don't know them, you can't understand us."

She acknowledges that one cannot expect to learn any language in six lessons. But she promises that students will have a better understanding of the culture and even be able to read a sentence or two. She does promise two things: "It will not be boring. And there will be no propaganda!"

XXX

Tatiana will teach Chinese starting Sept 16 at 1 p.m., and Russian starting Sept 16 at 3 p.m. The trip to China leaves in April, 2009, with a free information session set for Tuesday evening, October 21 at the Auld Center.

To learn more about these and hundreds of other lifelong learning classes starting this fall, call 830-895-4386, or visit www.clubed.net.

Sharpen your tools

As published in the Community Journal, Kerrville TX Aug 13, 2008


Whether using your mind or your kitchen paring knife, dull tools are dangerous.

Welcome back to another season of Club Ed, where you can not only sharpen your mind; you can sharpen all of your working tools.

Dr. Tom Harris, revered as a wizard at gardening, has always been fascinated in the tools that help him keep that garden in shape. That is why he will teach a Tool Sharpening Workshop this fall.

"I took a course in tool maintenance when I was working on my Industrial Arts degree," Harris said. "We learned how to maintain all the machines and hand tools in shop. I found it fascinating, and loved all of it. Ever since I have had a fetish about sharp things being sharp."

Taking care of our tools has become an anachronism. Back on the farm, my dad carefully cleaned the dirt off the hoes after each use, sharpened the edges, then dipped them in a bucket of used oil before hanging them up in the barn.

These days, when our hoe becomes dull, we are more likely to toss it and buy a new one than we are to sharpen it (if we even use a hoe, come to think of it). You wouldn't do that with your brain; why do it with your tools?

Harris acknowledges that sharpening has become a lost art, but not for him. He still cleans his spades and hoes after each use, sharpens the blades, sprays the metal with WD-40 and applies linseed oil to the wood handles.

"I've got shovels, hoes and rakes that are 25 years old," he said. "Some of them look better than new ones. I'm a nut about it."

Still, Harris is not obsessive about how you sharpen your tools. He teaches students how to sharpen by hand and to "eyeball" it, mainly by matching the same angle as the original blade was ground. His other tip is to keep your knives sharp by not putting them in the dishwasher or silverware drawer, where they will bang against other utensils. He recommends simply rinsing them off after each use, drying, and placing back in the knife holder.

Oh, about the "dull is dangerous" comment?

"You have to work harder to make a dull tool work," he noted. "If the blade is sharp, it will do what it is supposed to do, easily. If it is dull, that's when you make a mistake."

Sharpening your spades, scissors, knives, and shears is a strange combination of practicality and Zen.

"It is just fascinating," Harris said, "when you can get something sharp enough to shave with, whether it is a shovel or a razor."

Or your mind.