Volunteer of the Month
Archives

July 2019
Charles Roberts

Photo of Charles Roberts

This month we’d like to give thanks to a familiar face, but one you might not know of in relation to the Highland Senior Center. Charles Roberts is the former editor of the Highland Community News, where he was a big supporter of the Highland Senior Center and would often visit the center to cover our events and activities. However when he retired at the end of 2017, he continued to support our center, but in a different capacity. Before retiring, he asked Jeff, the Outreach Director if we could use some volunteers, as he did not want to become bored. Well, he asked the right person, as he was immediately made a Transportation Assistance Program (TAP) driver. He volunteers to drive just about every weekday, and sometimes on weekends as well. Yet his helping us out doesn’t stop there. He also helps out in our Food Program, three days a weeks. He sorts outs the food we bring in and then helps us to pass it out to our seniors. We would also like to thank his wife, Myrna, who gives him time off from his retirement Honey Do list to help us out.

Featured Class

Spanish
Date: January 17, 2019
Time: 1:30 - 2:30 pm
Length: 8 weeks
Cost: $8 members
      $8 non-members
Instructor: Louise Ayala
Location: Game Room
Description: This month we=d like say Bienvenido to our newest instructor, Louise Ayala. Louise will be teaching the Spanish class this fall. She may be new to us, but she’s not new to teaching. She has 25 years of teaching experience, with a K-12 teaching credential. She has mostly taught elementary and spent six years teaching Spanish. Louise learned Spanish as a child growing up in household with two fluent Spanish speaking parents. She also took Spanish in High School and spent her senior year as a tutor and teaching aid, helping to teach. Once in college she decided she only needed one year. As for our class, she will be focusing on conversational Spanish. The class will enable you to carry on limited conversation at first just to get you started. Then as you progress, so will the levels. As for what to bring, just bring a writing instrument and paper. Books might come later. We hope to see you there, or as you will soon be saying, Esperamos verte ahí.

Featured Activity

Ballroom Dancing
Time: Tuesdays 6:30 p.m.
Cost: Free members
      Free non-members
Location: Exercise Room
Description: This month we'd like the light to shine on a place that naturally deserves a spotlite...Ballroom Dancing. Our new evening Ballroom Dance instructor is Ricardo Tomboc. Ricardo takes over for his former instructor, Lucy Guss. The FREE class takes place on Tuesday, starting at 6:30 p.m., and is split into 2 halves a night. The first half is teaching, and the 2nd half is open dance, where generally, advanced dances pair up with beginners. He will also have guest instructors. Although he is an instructor, he enjoys going to other schools to keep up his skills and pick up new techniques. This is why he brings other instructors in. So the students will get a variety of techniques. When Ricardo is teaching, his classes run the entire gamut; the foxtrot, waltz, cha-cha-cha, tango, salsa, some disco, and the nightclub 2 step, to name a few. The class is open to everyone and students don't have to bring anything You can bring dancing shoes if you have them, but you don't need them to dance. Just a desire to learn and have fun.
Yoga Teacher Goes World Wide
By: Mike Sylva
Yuki Kugimiya, our Yoga instructor, is now recognized worldwide! Yuki was already trained in Sendo, but wanted to expanded on what he knew. He then went back to school, attending the Bodden Institute for Yoga Holistic Studies, a registered Yoga School with the International Yoga Alliance which consists of over 55 countries.

After completing 200 hours of learning additional physical and theoretical aspects of Yoga, he also had to do a practicum, actually teaching to students. He spent every weekend for 6 month going to classes and doing homework. He did very well, not only becoming certified but also graduating as their valedictorian.

Now Yuki is able to teach yoga in over 55 different countries (although he plans to stay with us for many years). Congratulations to Yuki for this outstanding achievement. You can congratulate him yourself, or take some yoga lessons. Just stop by the exercise room on Wednesdays and Fridays at 10:00 am for a stress free time.