SCOSA News

Memory Café Starts this Saturday!  

If you or a loved one are living with early stages of cognitive impairment, you may know that it can be challenging to maintain social ties with people that don't understand Alzheimer's disease or related disorders.  Starting on Saturday, January 28th from 10:30-12:00noon in Stockton Room F-121, SCOSA and the Alzheimer's Association Delaware Valley Chapter will host a memory café for individuals living in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder and their loved ones.  Socialize with peers, have fun and develop new friendships in a safe, relaxed environment facilitated by trained volunteers.  Care partners are encouraged to attend.  For more information or to register, please contact David Johnson at 800.272.3900 or djjohnson@alz.org. 

FEBRUARY FEATURES: 

Update on SCOSA's "Gray is Green" Sustainability Initiatives 

Renewable Energy – A Sustainable Future – Thursday February 9th  

Rick Dovey, president of the Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA) since 1990, a '75 Stockton alumnus, and current chair of the Stockton Foundation Board of Directors will give a presentation on Renewable Energy, free and open to the public at the Leinweber Senior Center Nutrition Site in Northfield on Thursday, February 9th from 11:00 am until 12:00 Noon, with lunch to follow courtesy of the Nutrition Site. See details in link at left. 
 
The presentation will focus on ACUA's Green Energy Initiatives and what individuals can do to reduce their impact on the environment. SCOSA's partnership with the ACUA is part of our Gray is Green initiative to encourage sustainability.  The presentation is also part of SCOSA's new collaboration with the Jewish Community Center, which manages the Nutrition Program at the Leinweiber Site (named in memory of Arthur and Florence Leinweber, members of Stockton's Gerontology Advisory Board for nearly 20 years beginning in 1978). 

SCOSA Sustainability Matters 5-Part Series Starts on March 25th 

On consecutive Saturdays from March 25th through April 22nd, SCOSA will present Jeff Quattrone (Stockton Studies in the Arts, class of ’84) in a series of workshops focused on everything from how to be an effective sustainability advocate, to how to protect our beautiful and fragile Southern New Jersey ecosystem.  The programs, free and open to the public, will run from 1:00 – 2:30pm in the Campus Center, Meeting Room 3. Additional details will be presented in our March E-News and be posted on SCOSA’s web-site. 

Jeff  is founder of the Library Seed Bank, an innovative approach to food biodiversity. He is also a Community Seed Organizer with the Community Seed Resource Program through Seed Savers Exchange and Seed Matters, a co-chair for the Northeast Regional Committee for Slow Food USA's Ark of Taste, and he works with the Rodale Institute's Organic Allentown Program. 

STEMing Aging Programs 

In a continuation of his Fall Semester project designed to involve SCOSA older adult participants in programming related to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), Dan Hernandez, professor and chair of Stockton’s biology department and SCOSA Faculty Fellow will invite older adults to participate in a variety of activities run by undergraduates in his ornithology service-learning class. Details will be posted on our website and presented in our March E-News. 

SCOSA's Growing Array of Time to Tell Projects 

Over the past several years, SCOSA has sponsored a growing array of programs designed to help participants tell their life and family stories, and express their thoughts and feelings in prose and poetry.  These projects have resulted in stories shared privately among families, in individual writing awards, and in various forms of publication and presentation (e.g. SCOSA's 2013 Time to Tell Collection, Lisa Cox's Garment Worker of South Jersey book, presentations at Stockton Day of Scholarship and SCOSA Festivals, etc.). 

New additions to the collection include a textbook slated for Summer 2017 publication authored by Lisa Cox, Gina Maguire and Dave Burdick, a biography of her grandfather by Gina Maguire recently featured in a 2-page article with videos in the Atlantic City Press, and the beginnings of an oral histories project on South Jersey's farming past in collaboration with Jeff Quattrone of Library Seed Bank .  SCOSA director Dave Burdick is also getting into the act as he pieces together the life story of his great-grandfather, a leader in the American Arts and Crafts movement in the early 1900s. 

Other SCOSA Programs this Month: 

Brown Bag Lunch & Learns: Free Webinars for Professionals, Faculty/Staff, and Students    

Through our membership in the American Society on Aging (ASA), SCOSA continues our presentation of informative ASA Webinars. The programs run from 1:00 - 2:00pm. To register please e-mail Gina.Maguire@Stockton.edu, providing your full contact information, indicating which program(s) you plan to attend and whether you need her to e-mail you a temporary parking pass. For additional details on each program, please CLICK HERE.  

• Making Home Safer for Seniors, Wednesday, February 8, 2017 

• Lewy Body Dementia: The Importance of Comprehensive Care and Support, Wednesday, February 15, 2017 

MLK Day of Service 

SCOSA partnered with the Manahawkin Instructional Site on two projects that addressed the food insecurity and basic needs of local residents (including students).  Ninety-two volunteers prepared fifty “Meals in a Bag” (with over 300 donated food items) and nearly 150 “Necessity Bags”. Thanks to all who donated supplies and/or volunteer hours! 

 
SCOSA Online Certificate in Elder Care Coordination (CECC) 

Earlier this week SCOSA welcomed ten enrollees from nine states (Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia) in the 6th offering of our online Certificate in Elder Care Coordination.  The 15-week program, offered via Stockton's Blackboard Learning System is instructed by SCOSA assistant Gina Maguire and director Dave Burdick. Many firms have trained past ECC’s through this program. 

Programs Sponsored by Others at Stockton 

TONIGHT (1/25/2017) The South Jersey Poets Collective welcomes two dynamic featured poets Grisel Y. Acosta and Vincent Toro to the World Above Poetry Series. The open mic starts at 7pm, and the featured poets perform around 8pm. Cons

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Classes offered by the Stockton Division of Continuing Studies begin on February 3rd and run through April.   

Stockton World Language Tables are BACK! The program provides a welcoming and no-pressure environment to practice world language skills. All students, faculty, staff, and community members who want to learn, practice, polish, or share their language skills are welcome to join this student-led activity. Last semester, 18 languages were represented every week (Arabic, Bengali, Cantonese, English, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Italian, Latin, Mandarin, Nepali, Polish, Spanish, Tagalog, and Urdu).  SEE FLYER HERE.