Sandburg Corporate & Leisure College Offers Learning for Enjoyment

  Aaron Frey
  Friday, March 27, 2020 5:00 PM
  Campus News

Galesburg, IL

With its selection of non-credit courses, corporate training opportunities and youth programs, Carl Sandburg College’s Corporate & Leisure College is dedicated to lifelong learning in a non-academic setting.

‘Unencumbered Fun’
NAOMI LAW, retired administrator
Naomi Law’s first Corporate & Leisure College experience was a day trip to the Illinois Holocaust Museum in Skokie.

At one point, another trip-goer, whose mother was a Holocaust survivor, turned to Law and asked, “Would you like to hear my mother’s voice?” They stood and listened together to a display that had a recording of the women’s mother describing her experiences.

“It was even more meaningful,” Law said. “It was almost like a family experience. The main thing about the trip I went on was that it’s fun, and a lot of older people haven’t had fun for a long time, and it’s unencumbered fun. You don’t have to do anything except go and enjoy yourself. It was the kind of thing that everybody should do.” 

‘I Keep Feeling Young’
SUE SPERRY, retired teacher
As a former teacher, Sue Sperry knows the value of learning — even in retirement.

Sperry has taken Corporate & Leisure classes for several years on a wide variety of topics such as genealogy, drawing, crocheting, landscaping and digital photography.

“It keeps your mind active. I keep feeling young. It’s a joy, basically,” Sperry said. “Expand your world and see. It’s amazing what’s out there.”

As soon as Sperry gets the email with what the next batch of Corporate & Leisure offerings will be, she passes it on to her friends and invites them to join her.

“I just like that there’s no pressure,” Sperry said. “It’s not like back in college or taking classes for school that you have to continue on or get a certain grade. This is just for pure enjoyment. I don’t think there are people out there who really realize what a gem this is. It’s very economical and the hours are flexible, I love learning, and this is such a safe environment. They take care of you. It’s like family here.”

‘It Opens Your Eyes Up’
IONA BOONE, landscaper and master gardener
When Iona Boone isn’t tending to her garden, you can often find her on a Corporate & Leisure day trip. Boone has traveled with Sandburg groups to places such as Janesville, Wis.; Dubuque, Iowa; Princeton; Lincoln; Bloomington; and Rockford. She views them as a great opportunity to discover new places and meet new people.

Boone said another of her favorite Corporate & Leisure experiences was the “In Your Own Backyard” offerings that included a trip to the Knox County Museum in Knoxville. “I went by that a zillion times and it never sparked my interest to go in there, but I found it very interesting and very fascinating,” Boone said. “There are points that we’re so used to seeing and we don’t really think about them, but once you investigate them a little bit more it opens your eyes up to them.” 

To learn more about opportunities through Sandburg’s Corporate & Leisure College, visit www.sandburg.edu/Academics/Corporate-Leisure-College. To join their mailing list, email community@sandburg.edu or call 309.345.3501.

READ THIS STORY AND MORE IN THE 2020 EDITION OF SANDBURG MAGAZINE