LEWISTON — Lewiston-Auburn Senior College will use multiple facilities to offer in-person classes this spring and future semesters, according to Executive Director Lucy Bisson.

It will use sites such as the Auburn Public Library, St. Philip Church, Schooner Estates and the Auburn Senior Community Center, she said. The locations will be determined by semester moving forward.

“I think what we’re going to end up doing is we maybe have to be kind of mobile because it all depends on how our instructors want to teach and what space is available in these venues,” she said.

Most places are allowing the college to host classes for a modest donation, she said. The Auburn Public Library has been the most accommodating, allowing the Senior College to host several classes there.

Since the Senior College severed its ties from the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College when it became a nonprofit in 2022 and was told by the university that it would have to start paying to use its Lewiston facilities, it has been looking for new places offering cheaper rates to host its classes.

Though the Senior College has not completely ruled out the possibility of using college space to host some classes in the future, it cannot afford to rent space at the Lewiston campus at this time and the parking situation is not ideal for Senior College members, Bisson said.

Its yearly member dues are $25 and courses are often free or a modest fee. Paying for space at the Lewiston campus would require it to raise its fees and course rates, according to Bisson.

The new hosting model has not forced the Senior College to reduce the number of classes it offers; there are about 20 planned for this spring, she said. The number of classes offered usually depends on how many people are interested in teaching courses and 20 is the average number of classes that are usually offered in spring.

Some courses are split between in-person and Zoom sessions, or are taught in-person while being livestreamed via Zoom, she said. The Senior College has been using Zoom as an optional teaching platform since before the pandemic, so when the pandemic struck it was an easier transition to virtual learning for its members.

Esther Tucker has been taking Senior College courses by Zoom from her home in West Poland since the pandemic started, she said. The courses made the 92-year-old feel less lonely.

Prior to the pandemic, she would attend some one-day Friday programs but after she stopped driving about five years ago it became very difficult to coordinate transportation to attend in-person classes, she said.

She takes any Zoom class that piques her interest, such as art and cooking, she said. She enjoys the presentations and class discussions after.

Often, she logs onto Zoom classes 15 minutes early to catch up with people, she said. Some of the instructors have become like friends, though she has never met them in-person.

Tucker also participates in the Zoom Pictionary and Trivial Pursuit games, which always leaves a smile on her face. “That’s good for people to have something to laugh about,” she said.

She said she looks forward to the Zoom classes, which gives her a chance to talk to more people and extends her social circle beyond her family, neighbors and church.

The Senior College hosted almost all of its winter courses via Zoom this year, Bisson said. It was easier to host classes virtually so people were not traveling in bad weather or dealing with class cancellations.

It is considering hosting all winter programs via Zoom moving forward, but the decision to host classes in-person or on Zoom is almost entirely up to instructor preference.

None of the instructors are paid for their teaching so the decision to host a class via Zoom or in-person is left up to them most of the time because they are donating their time and expertise, she said.

Margaret Volock is a Senior College instructor who worked as a high school science teacher and adjunct professor at Central Maine Community College in Auburn for 13 years before she retired, she said. She teaches courses that she also has an interest in and that she wants to learn more about, believing that teaching is a learning experience for students and the instructor.

As someone who likes to see people and read their body language, she said she only teaches classes in-person because she has a hard time orienting herself to a computer screen.

However, she said using Zoom to livestream her classes is a good tool for people who cannot attend in-person. She has taught classes in microbiology, in which she has a professional background, art and a virtual tour of Monhegan Island.

Senior College instructor Jean Potuchek is a social scientist by training and has taught some sociology and inequity classes, along with classes on women’s history, gardening and other topics, she said.

It provides an opportunity to express her passion for teaching and contribute to the community around her, she said. Her teaching style is energetic so it is difficult for her to teach via Zoom but she has taught virtually a few times in the past few years. She has one hybrid learning class planned this spring.

For Volock, teaching adults is fun because they are in the classroom because they want to be instead of being there because they have to be, she said. It is also fun to teach at the Senior College because it is more informal and there are fewer limitations on what she can teach.

Teaching is an opportunity to develop ideas with other people, Potuchek said. Being an instructor for the Senior College is all the fun parts of teaching without the negative parts. Senior College students are highly motivated and bring a lot of life experience with them — a wealth of knowledge themselves.

“The opportunity to learn things for no other reason than just because you’re interested,” she said. “… This is the time in life when you get to study stuff just because you’re interested in it.”

Volock said she does not expect to make any adjustments to teaching at new locations this spring. Though she is not dependent on technology to teach, there was a lot of technology available at the Lewiston campus to use.

The benefits of some of the new venues are that they are closer to where students live, and Schooner Estates, some of the students do not have to travel.

Potuchek said she expects there will be a learning curve to teach at a new location, though she is not nervous about it. It might take a couple of years for instructors to figure out what spaces work for them.

The idea that people slow down as they age is a misconception, she said. Many of her students are in retirement and the Senior College is a place where they can channel their energy into something they enjoy.

Though no formal college credits are earned, it helps keep people social while giving others the opportunity to teach what they have learned, she said. And she likes the idea of peers teaching peers.

“I mean, people over 50 teaching people over 50, sharing what they know, sharing what they’ve learned,” she said. “It just seems to me like a win-win situation.”

More information about the senior college can be found at laseniorcollege.org.

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