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■ ‘Active Minds for Life’ presents free seminars at 75 sites statewide, three of them local
BY VANESSA MARTIN
For those wanting the full report behind today’s news stories, which are told in 60 seconds or less, an “Active Minds for Life” seminar is exactly what you’ve been looking for.
“We go beyond sound-bite journalism,” Active Minds for Life co-founder John Henderson told LIFE. “Our goal is to provide the context for what is going on right now, especially with international issues. (Our seminars) are more than a newscast, but not at the level of taking a traditional university class.”
A typical Active Minds seminar lasts between 60 to 90 minutes, and when sponsors such as The Tattered Cover Book Store or the Stapleton Foundation host an event, the public can attend for free.
About 120 people usually attend a Tattered Cover Active Minds seminar
that may focus on all manner of issues: the history of Afghanistan over
the past five years; bio-engineered food; the GI Bill and the current
“Montgomery” GI Bill; Islam; Buddhism; the life and legacy of Martin
Luther King, Jr.; Iran & Global Nuclear Proliferation; China’s
Economic Transition; Global Pandemics; The Soviet Union: The Road After
Collapse; Government & The Media; Mexico: A View from South of the
Border; Aviation: From Kitty Hawk to 9/11; or The Duality of India.
PHOTO BY JEFF HERSH
JOHN HENDERSON of ‘Active Minds for Life’ conducts one of his free seminars.
“We are meeting the educational needs of people from eight years of age to 98-year-olds,” Henderson said.
But the organization didn’t start out that way.
Initially, Henderson, a former Chicago high school teacher who
moved to Denver and became a stay-at-home dad to his two daughters, got
an itch to be back in the classroom. He didn’t want to go back to a
high school classroom, so he taught a poetry class at a church.
“Everyone who came was 65 years old or older,” Henderson told LIFE.
“I was intimidated, but they were just as scared as my high school
juniors. I realized teaching is teaching.”
He also realized that there was a great demand from his new
students to know more about what was going on behind the headlines. He
put together some brochures and sent 12 out to Denver retirement
communities. He got calls back from nine.
Henderson initially was scheduling, writing and delivering the
seminars himself, but there were so many requests he realized he was
going to need to hire people. That’s when he contacted Zane Robertson.
The two met at their children’s back-to-school night, and four
years ago they decided to create Active Minds For Life. Today they
present the talks in 75 senior citizen communities and have 15
part-time instructors who deliver seminars to a variety of
organizations. They also are starting to offer classes in Boulder and
Fort Collins.
“The best thing, from my perspective, is that we are making a
constructive difference in people’s lives,” Henderson said. “People in
retirement communities are starving for intellectual stimulation. They
are not just craving this, they are demanding this. You will find our
seminars are a core part of their lives. This is why we are proud of
what we are doing.”
Active Minds for Life’s website, activemindsforlife.com, provides a
list of different classes offered, as well as class notes for many of
its recent seminars. It also lists all upcoming seminars which are free
and open to the public, many of which require attendees to RSVP.
For more information, call 303-320-7652 or email
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