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Learning long after retirement

Hofstra offers interactive continuing education for seniors

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On a cold and wet Monday morning, the campus of Hofstra University was bustling as students arrived for their classes. Many of them, however, were not young people preparing for a career, but retirees from around Long Island, continuing a life-long pursuit of knowledge. They are members of Hofstra’s Personal Enrichment In Retirement program, or PEIR.

This continuing education program has a unique twist: The classes are all taught by the senior-citizen students who are enrolled in the program.

“It really has been a lifesaver,” said Art Mattson, a 71-year-old Lynbrook resident who has been involved with PEIR for more than 15 years. “It’s not a passive program. I’ve enrolled in programs at other colleges around Long Island, and most times they have an outside lecturer come and speak with us. Here, we’re the teachers — it’s on us to learn about a subject and educate everyone about it. That’s the magic of PEIR.” Mattson, an author, is also Lynbrook’s historian.

The group currently boasts more than 200 members, who meet four days a week at Hofstra. Membership is $600 a year. Members are given Hofstra student ID cards, and are considered an important part of the university, according to Bradley Kaye, PEIR’s administrator, who attributes the program’s popularity to its active, engaging style and the intelligence of its members.

“The difference between continuing education at Hofstra and at other schools is that we present our own programs,” Kaye explained. “We ask our members to find topics they are passionate about, whether it’s something they’ve worked on or studied in the past or a new topic. They do research, and spend a lot of time learning as much as they can about their topic. We have some incredibly smart and bright members of our program, and I think it really shows in the work they do.”

Fred Kessner, 93, of Valley Stream, said he decided to join PEIR after learning that students lead the sessions. “When I was younger, I loved to perform, and I still do,” said Kessner, a former member of the South Shore Drama Troupe. “This gives me a small chance to still perform. I’ve presented lessons on drama, performed in small productions and am scheduled to do a reading of a one-act play this January.”

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