- Welcome to WEDU Quest,
I'm Dr. Shannon McQuaig.

Oh, what to do when we grow old?

Some pursue sports
like golf and tennis,

others seek the sun at the beach

or meet friends for
cocktails or afternoon teas.

And the TV beckons many others
to become couch potatoes.

But there is more.

Meet a group that challenges
us to pursue knowledge

and keep our brain in
good working order.

(mellow guitar music)

This is the Osher Lifelong
Learning Institute

of Ringling College
in Sarasota, Florida.

It is a place where retirees
come to pursue knowledge.

- The organization
began 20 years ago.

A few retirees said there
has to be more to retirement

than just golf and the beaches.

They were bright individuals
and they met each other

and decided, hey you know what?

I'd like to learn more about
what you know and vice versa

and so they started
this program,

and the first year,
they had 75 students.

This past year, we
had about 2,700.

- [Shannon] According
to executive director

Janna Overstreet,
life-long learning

is best done in a group.

- You are growing new
challenges to your own thinking

by listening to others in class
and so our students respond

really well to that
because they feel like

they're not just
getting information,

they're getting a
learning experience

and they're meeting new people,

they're developing
social networks.

- [Shannon] She finds the
lifeblood of this program

is its teachers.

Ooh

- Tony Moon, the man
is something else.

So, he was a songwriter,
he's a music producer,

he worked with Patsy
Cline, he was in Nashville,

and his students love him.

They will follow him to
the ends of the earth

to take one more
Tony Moon class.

Without you

- I'd never heard
anything like that before.

I research a lot
for these classes,

I just don't come in here

and try to fly by
the seat of my pants,

I try to really have it
together and ready for them

because these students
that at are this school,

they have got it together.

That whole class I'm teaching
this quarter is called

In Harmony: A History of
Vocal Groups, United States.

We're doing, yeah
Motown groups, doo-wop,

groups like Pentatonix
doing a capella stuffs.

- [Shannon] Tony loves
to discuss influences

artists have on each other.

- I've got examples
of The Four Freshmen

doing Beach Boys songs better
than the Beach Boys, okay.

What I was trying to show
them was the correlation

between The Four Freshmen,
who were a big vocal group,

mostly a jazz very modern
harmony, and the Beach Boys.

And everybody knows who the
Beach Boys are obviously.

And I wanted to show how Brian
Wilson and the Beach Boys

were incredibly influenced
by The Four Freshmen.

- It's amazing to learn about
all these different groups.

Tony has a wealth of
information on these groups

and he worked with many of them

and it's just
exciting to be here.

- And then we have Monroe Brett.

(upbeat music)

He is a fantastic
history instructor.

I do not understand
how he knows and keeps

all of that information
in his mind at one time.

- And in August of 1914,
all hell is gonna break out.

The two things which are
the outstanding feature

of being an instructor here,

number one is the students,
they are all inquisitive,

they all wanna be here,
they are all well read,

they're all well traveled.

But number two, is the
administration of the academy

makes it so easy to be
involved with this program.

In economics, we have something
called opportunity cost,

what you give up to
get something else,

and these people have
an opportunity cost.

They could be doing
something else

but they're here,
they wanna be here

and it's just terrific
working with them.

- Monroe Brett is a premier
instructor in our organization.

He has done classes here
for about five or six years

and they're always very
interesting, very informative

and very entertaining.

- Then you have Ted Russell.

(gentle music)

Our students walk in with
a lot of information,

so you have to be
ready to be challenged

on what you're sharing

and to delve deeper
into the subject matter

than what you maybe
had prepared for

and Ted is great at doing that.

- So far, I've taught
probably 15 courses.

US Constitution,
Second Amendment,

Amendments to the Constitution,
Women in American History,

History of the Presidency,
History of the Vice Presidency.

- [Shannon] His class
on the vice presidents

covers both the famous
and the obscure.

- There's no doubt that Teddy
Roosevelt and Harry Truman

are the two vice presidents
that came into the presidency

and really did a fantastic job.

We get into Charles
Curtis, who by the time

he was eight years old,
he never spoke English,

he could only speak his Kaw
Indian language and French.

And people go whoa we
had a vice president

who grew up on a reservation?

(mellow guitar music)

- [Shannon] Sometimes,
the OLLI goes on the road.

These students are taking a
day trip to Ybor City in Tampa.

- One of the reasons the
tours are so important

is because we provide a
liberal arts program which is

history and some science and
current events and music.

So, this sorts of tours, these
are an extension of history,

you know, we're taking
history outside the classroom.

- [Shannon] Their tour
guide is Max Herman.

- It gets know worldwide as
one of the top three cigars

that you can purchase
in the entire world.

- [Shannon] He has a
treasure trove of knowledge

on the history of Ybor.

- The importance of Ybor City
mainly is it was almost like

a safe haven for all these
immigrants that came this way

to find an industry to work in.

The cigar industry was something
that could be easily taught

and this was a place where
all these people thrived

and built a place where
they could live in America.

This is a place that
had southern influence,

Italian influence,
Cuban influence, all
kinds of influences

that came together to
make such a unique city

that most people say they
woulda just drove right through

if they didn't hear the stories.

- [Shannon] These students from
the OLLI at Ringling College

are here out of a desire to
understand local history.

- They come down here
because they wanna experience

such a unique place
that they probably read

a couple little
articles or books about

but to really hear it
from the horse's mouth

of somebody who's born
and raised in this area,

it gives them a really
in-depth touch to this place.

- [Shannon] For
the people of OLLI,

life-long learning
feeds the soul.

- We see ourselves as one
ingredient in the soup

that makes Sarasota
and Manatee Counties

such a rich experience for
people who are retirees.

- This is so fulfilling
to be in the classroom

with the students and
it is such a feeling

of accomplishment on my part.

- This has been a wonderful
experience for me to be here

doing something that I've
been doing actively in my life

and then taken that knowledge
and giving it to people

that don't happen to
have that knowledge

and that's what
teaching's all about.

- I never wanna stop
learning, there's so much new.

Every door you open,
this leads to two more,

which leads to two more.

If you stop learning,
then you stop living.

(gentle music)

- Quest for Lifelong Learning,
visit at ollitampabay.com.