Make A Clock

Students in the Make A Clock class had fun producing a treasure - some for themselves and others for family members.  Three class sessions of sanding, painting, and decorating culminated in beautiful and useful wall clocks.  To see pictures of some of their finished products, click here.

Cypress Top - Railroad Town

Bill Willits with the National Railway Historical Society presented a very interesting program about the development of Texas railroads in the mid-1800's. Many of our ALL members reside in Cypress, TX, home of the area called Cypress Top.  Cypress Top was a noted station as railways expanded to serve the commercial needs from the Gulf Coast area westward toward central Texas.  Review an article by Bill by clicking here. The Houston Railroad Museum has changed their name to the Texas Railroading Heritage Museum and will hopefully soon be relocated to a location in Tomball on the west side of Houston.  Keep up with that move by visiting their website at - http://www.texasrrmuseum.org/

Advisory Committee Minutes - March 2014

We are now half way through the Spring 2014 Semester and things are running smoothly. Sign-Up for the April, May & June Bus Trips will be on April 8th at 10:00 in HSC 105 & 106.  Remember to bring cash or checks to pay for fees listed.  You can read about the upcoming bus trips by clicking the link below.
    Classes are back on track.....check the blog for changes that had to be made due to the bad weather Houston experienced this winter.  We are currently in the process of planning classes for the Fall 2014 Semester that will start mid-September and run through mid-December.  If you would like to give us a class or know of someone else that could present a program, please contact the Curriculum Committee to get involved.....click the link below to get contact info. We need lots of classes.....so please get involved and assist with this process.
Minutes of March Advisory Committee - click here
Bus Trip Info for May, June & July - click here
Curriculum Committee Contacts - click here

Core is Key

Lisa Brashier, Professor of Kinesiology at LSC-CyFair, showed the class the importance of our body's core, especially for balance and flexibility.  After a presentation on the core muscles, how they work and what they do for us, Lisa demonstrated a basic set of exercises we can do to strengthen our core;  crunches, reverse crunches, ball crunches, oblique crossing over crunches, air bicycling, plank, butt lifts, and back extensions with ball.  Click on each exercise to see an instructional video.  You can see Lisa's class notes here.

Knots, Bends & Hitches

Knots, Bends & Hitches - what's the difference?  Alex Barocio told us the answer to what makes a knot different from a bend and a hitch. A knot is when using one piece of rope.  A bend is when you join two pieces of rope.  And a hitch is when you tie a rope to an object such as a post or ring.  Alex did a "hands on" class and showed participants how to tie over a dozen different common knots that are useful around houses, boats, farms, or elsewhere.  To learn more review his presentation.
Knots Presentation - Click Here

T-Tapp Exercise

Kirsten Tucker was with us this morning to demonstrate a new type of exercise called T-Tapp.  T-Tapp has been reviewed by many and is said to be the most efficient and effective workout.  It is not tap dancing nor is there any jumping or stress to the joints. This workout is meant to rev up your metabolism.  It is not necessarily for weight loss, but does strengthen muscles layer by layer. It improves posture, lowers high blood pressure, stimulates the lymphatic system and increases cognitive processing. Review the attached handout for more details.  Also you can view a short video on you-tube.
Handout - Click Here - Shows Kirsten's contact info
Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK7hs7Dvmzo

Senior Living Options

As we age one of the most important questions is "where will we live once we find that we need help with everyday activities"?  Sue Davis was with us on March 25th to discuss this very issue. She is a Geriatric Care Manager and a Licensed Nursing Facility Administrator.  Sue presented options to consider and addressed questions from class members.  Review her presentation and check out the suggested websites to learn more.
Presentation - Click Here

Tour of Texas State Parks

We took a tour of Texas State Parks with Cheryl LeJune, ALL and TPWD volunteer.  Cheryl shared the history of how the park system started to what is available today for visitors to the parks. We learned of the many programs offered by TPWD which can interest anyone in the family.  We also got a glimpse of the diverse landscape, flora and fauna to be seen in Texas.  Life is Better OutsideⓇ

To view the presentation, click here. 

Music in the Arts - Interconnections

We had a small turn out for the Music in the Arts class due to a sudden rain storm.  If you didn't attend you really missed a treat!!  Adam Clay with Houston New Arts Movement shared his dedication to incorporating music and arts into everyday life.  As younger generations come of age, they have not had the exposure to the music that we have had. Adam's hope is to reintroduce great music into society in a way that they can relate to it and participate in it.  He has formed a group of artists and musicians that shares his vision and created the Houston New Arts Movement.  He performed several piano pieces and also showed us how music relates to the visual arts (he also brought in several paintings as illustration).  Check out his website below to learn more and view his PowerPoint presentation giving more details about his group.
Website - http://www.artsmove.net/enter/

Presentation - Click Here

Katy Prairie Conservancy

Jamie Gonzalez presented a wonderful program on the Katy Prairie Conservancy.  The KPC was established in 1992 to conserve part of the Katy Prairie which is located just west of Houston, TX.  It is important to protect a sustainable portion of the Katy Prairie for the benefit of wildlife, Texans and the world.  Prairie lands are quickly being overtaken by cities.  But Jamie showed us how important the prairie lands are to our local ecology and to world ecology. To learn more about KPC, visit the following websites. 1-  http://www.katyprairie.org/preserves.html
2-  http://www.restorationsystems.com/projects/katy-prairie-mitigation-bank-stream-wetland-credits-houston-texas/  
3-  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katy_Prairie_Conservancy