MAPLEWOOD / SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Hard times seem to energize the South Orange–Maplewood Adult School Association, which is celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2023.
After all, the school was born in one of America’s darkest times, the Great Depression of the 1930s. Jobs were scarce and money even scarcer. Days were bleak and empty evenings hung heavily on enervated communities. Then, inspiration! Local leaders came up with the idea to create an evening school for adults, inviting out-of-work teachers to develop classes that would entertain and/or train underemployed citizens — and all at an affordable cost so everyone could come out for learning and fun.
Like the Great Depression, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a dark and financially stressful time. As a nonprofit organization that receives no funding from local governments, SOMAS survives primarily on class tuitions, gifts from its Friends Campaign, and contributions from sponsors, most of them local businesses. Yet SOMAS has again come through, this time, reenergized and reaffirming its distinction as the oldest operating adult school in New Jersey, nationally celebrated and enshrined since the year 2000 as “A Local Legacy” by the Library of Congress,
SOMAS is marking those nine decades with a celebratory 90th-anniversary logo, new initiatives and a renewed focus on its ongoing mission “to offer our communities a wealth of opportunities to learn, grow and have fun,” SOMAS board President Bonnie Kenselaar said. “That SOMAS remains a vital part of our communities and has weathered the Great Depression, the pandemic and everything in between is a tribute to the relevant and inspiring programming it offers.”
That includes 250 courses, lectures and special events each year, each designed to “enrich the mind, exercise the body and feed the soul,” annually attracting more than 2,500 people of all ages. Offerings include art, music, business and finance, fitness and recreation, languages, and technology. There is also increased programming for children during the school year, including fitness classes and Suzuki violin lessons.
A children’s summer enrichment program, sponsored for the past 50 years by the adult school, has been enjoyed by hundreds of children and teens, and has employed many local high school students and teachers. Reflecting the adult school’s determination to always plan ahead of the curve, the summer program is on hiatus this year, while its format and mission are being reevaluated to better serve contemporary family needs. In its stead, the school will be offering “Passport to Learning Day” this fall, billed as a fun-filled experience for children and their families.
Other special 90th-anniversary events will include a new take on the always popular “Likely Stories” readings, retitled “The Best of Likely Stories.” Another highlight will be the presentation of the coveted SOMAS Gus and Thelma Sickles Award for Lifelong Learning to Peabody-winning radio journalist Nancy Solomon.
Still, the 90th-anniversary spotlight will shine most brightly on “our students,” said Kenselaar. “Most of all, thank you to our students, to all of you who have taken a class, attended a lecture, an event or a trip. You are the reason the South Orange–Maplewood Adult School exists. And the reason we keep growing.”
For more information on SOMAS and its offerings, visit somadultschool.org.
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