It's back to the books for this teacher
Photo by Lancaster Newspapers January 25, 2010
By LORI VAN INGEN, Staff Writer
Lancaster Newspapers
Connie Stauffer believes seniors are happiest when they are able to continue to learn, to keep active mentally and physically and to reach out to serve and benefit others.
That's why the 73-year-old Lititz resident stays so busy.
Stauffer was a reading specialist for the Pequea Valley School District, where she served on two strategic planning committees and curriculum and staff development committees.
"I enjoyed working for solutions beneficial to students," she said.
But while she was still working, Stauffer also was a board member of Lancaster Mennonite School for 23 years, serving as chairman for 11 years.
"I saw the need for both public and private," she said. "Their goals are mutual."
Stauffer retired from Pequea Valley in 2000, but not from a life of education.
She got involved in teaching as an adjunct professor for Eastern Mennonite University at the Lancaster campus. She taught graduate programs in Foundations in Literacy and worked with reading specialist certifications.
When her husband, Harold, retired in 2003, Stauffer began serving on the Mennonite Education Agency Board, which services seminaries, four colleges and universities and private elementary and high schools.
"It involved a lot of travel to Pasadena, California; Denver, Colorado; Brownsville, Texas; Goshen, Indiana; Bluffton, Ohio," she said.
During her six years on the board, Stauffer led the elementary/secondary committee and was part of the search committee for president of Goshen College.
Stauffer then was hired by Mennonite Education Agency as a liaison for the elementary and secondary schools from spring 2008 until last July.
For the last several years, Stauffer also has served on the Landis Homes Retirement Community board. At first, she was just finishing out her husband's term after he died in February 2008, but she enjoyed it so much she has stayed on the board.
She also volunteers at the general store in Harvest View at Landis Homes and chairs the advisory board of Pathways Institute.
The kickoff for Pathways' fourth session at Landis Homes will be held from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Thursday in West Bethany Chapel. Call 381-3577 to attend.
Stauffer said she and her husband had brainstormed what they would want a retirement community to be like, and it included lifelong learning, active involvement in volunteering and being an integral part of the community.
She wanted to be involved in a learning situation such as classes or seminars to stimulate thinking. Then she said she saw an ad for Pathways Institute at Messiah Village in Mechanicsburg "and I perked up."
She told members of Aging With Enrichment about it, and they went to Messiah Village to get more information and brought it back to Landis Homes.
"I'm glad Messiah Village shared with us, and we didn't have to reinvent the wheel," she said.
Stauffer is now chair of the advisory board of Pathways Institute at Landis Homes.
Just a few of the 30-plus new topics being offered are: Geology; William Shakespeare; Understanding Influenza; Facebook; Trees & Shrubs; The Crusades; Classical Composers; Dynamic Relationship Building; Bees as Native Pollinators; Spirituality & Aging; Cancer Genetics; Wildflowers; Adding Spice & Herbs to Your Life; the Ancient Silk Road through Central Asia; Story Writing; and Local History. There also will be visits to museums, historical societies and cultural centers for exhibits, concerts and other special events, she said.
"The variety (of classes) is phenomenal," Stauffer said.
The courses are open to all Lancaster County residents who are 60 or older, she said.
What she likes about the classes is that you can be as interactive as you want to be or just sit and absorb it all.
"It's very nonthreatening. There's not going to be a test. You're not getting graded," she said.
In addition to her work at Landis Homes, Stauffer is now volunteering at Booksavers in Ephrata.
A person she had taught with in Somalia in 1965 had asked her to get involved with Booksavers for her knowledge on children's books, she said.
"I'm going to really enjoy it. I love books," she said.
Stauffer said she's amazed at the variety of books donated to Booksavers.
"A lot of home-schoolers and even some public school teachers get material there sometimes," she said.
Stauffer hopes to continue all her volunteer work "and be a happy contributing person as long as I can," she said.
Email Lori Van Ingen
lvaningen@lnpnews.com
© 2010 Lancaster Newspapers
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