Making News (December 1993)

Excerpted from the Chicago Tribune: Sunday, Sept. 19, 1993

Barbara Peller teaches “T’ai Chi Chih: For the Body That Wasn’t Born Yesterday” at a branch of Oakton Community College. She stated that although the article’s focus was on continuing education, she felt it was sure interesting that the reporter chose her class to attend, photograph, and interview students. William Draves, executive director for Learning Resources Network, says, “What we’ve seen is that it’s become a societal phenomenon. It’s hard to bump into someone who hasn’t taken a course or isn’t taking one now at a community college.”

Bump into Beatrice Longerman 67, of Evanston and she’s likely to be on her way to a class offered by Oakton Community College’s adult and continuing education program. On Monday mornings, she’s learning the ancient Chinese method of relaxing, energizing and improving muscle tone through T’ai Chi Chih. Asked why she decided to attend a T’ai Chi Chih class, Langerman had a quick answer. “First of all, it’s not jogging,” she said. “I can’t stand jogging. And, I’ve had ballet, so this is similar. But this is a mind-set. I like the movements. They put your energy in different places and as I get older, I need more energy. I need to keep moving my butt.”

Classmate Hal Secor, 73, a retired screenwriter from Lincolnwood, said he has been taking T’ai Chi Chih from instructor Barbara Peller for nearly a year “to keep my legs flexible and strong. I think anyone who is bored and doesn’t know what to do with their time is nuts if they live anywhere near a community college. There is so much going on here that you could wear yourself out easily in one day.”

The future for continuing education is promising. As baby boomers age, they will continue shifting away from work to personal interests while their children do the opposite. Continuing education will be in a prime position to adjust to those changes. Langerman hopes the future is bright for all such education. At the end of her T’ai Chi Chih class, she pulled on her black leather biker’s jacket with a button pinned to her lapel. On it is printed ‘Listen to women for a change.’ I haven’t gone to college so this is my learning experience,” she said of her participation in continuing education. “I do this because I want to feel alive and experience what I’m involved in.”

In the NTSW Industries Newsletter:

Barbara Peller, working for the Oakton Community College at the Great Opportunities Adult Day Care Center recently had a two-column article with pictures published in the NTSW Industries newsletter. To quote: “Part of a trend to adult education, their enthusiasm and response affirm that those over 65 are still learning, growing people.” Further: “The discipline is preventative, relaxing, and tones the body from the inside out. Body organs and muscles become stimulated by the movements, joints become looser, the body softer, and Chi–the life force–can again flow through the body’s channels. Blood follows the energy, much the same as what takes place in biofeedback. Barbara points out that to both relax and activate the body and mind is not contradictory, because the channels open naturally when the body is toned and the mind relaxed. Only then can the body and mind come into balance. The article goes on to state: “TCC is part of some cancer wellness programs, and the elderly, including those with Alzheimer’s and those who need to remain seated, have responded well to this relaxing, energizing form of therapy.”