September traditionally marks the beginning of a new school year - and not only for youngsters. September 11 is the first day of school for Burlington area seniors - school meaning Elder Education Enrichment, an organization run by volunteers who organize 24 classes a semester on widely varied topics.

Developed to appeal to older adults, EEE offers daytime classes, affordable fees, short-term commitments, easy parking, and handicapped accessibility - and are no tests, papers, or grades. For almost two decades, EEE has offered programs for the intellectually curious ranging from cheese-making in Vermont to poetry in the 21st century, from Islam to environmental sprawl, from Gregorian chant to George Gershwin.

"The programs are interesting, intellectually stimulating, and you don't have to do any homework," says Cathy Howell of Williston, a retired UVM researcher. She goes to every one, she says, because she has found that even the ones that don't appeal to her at first glance turn out to be fascinating. She hesitated, for example, before going to a lecture about food and economics, but she listened entranced by the connections made between a potato famine in Ireland and its effect on immigration to America; about the taste for chocolate in Europe and the exploration of South America.

Conceived in 1990 by Jim Jackson, owner of Notch Above Tours, and, at the time, a teacher at St. Michael's College and Sylvia Smith, a retired teacher from South Burlington, EEE now boasts an annual average of about 140 members, 50 years old and older, who pay dues of $40 per semester or $75 for the year (both fall and spring semesters). Members may attend any or all of the 24 programs offered each semester. Non-member walk-ins of any age are welcome for a $5.00 fee. Once you reach $40 in walk-in fees, you are treated as a member and no longer have to pay for programs for the rest of the semester. Scholarships and help with transportation are available on the basis of need. One measure of EEE's success is that membership dues have not changed since 1990, but the fees paid to the lecturers have doubled.

"The original idea was to have speakers who would give their audiences ideas," says Sylvia Smith. "Make people think, not just listen."

Programs are scheduled on Mondays and Fridays, usually from 2pm to 3pm, at the Faith United Methodist Church in South Burlington. Members choose the topics and recruit and pay local experts as teachers. "All ideas are welcome," says Barbara Rippa, current chair of the program committee. "We look for both an interesting topic and a good speaker." Evaluation forms with plenty of space for suggestions are distributed at the end of each lecture

Each semester, the programs are presented in four six-week sections. Three of these sections usually revolve around a theme. The fourth is a variety series. For example, the first six Mondays, starting on September 11 this year, will focus on "The Joy of Opera," with Guiseppe Albanese, a UVM graduate and award-winning lecturer presenting a varied review including: "Hollywood Goes to the Opera," "Kiri Te Kanawa," Marian Anderson," and the Verdi Baritones." This series will break the usual pattern and begin at 1:30 for 90 minutes. The first Friday series, starting on September 15 is called "Perspectives on Africa." The programs will range from safaris to the Darfur refugee crisis, from populous Nigeria to the novel "The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency," set in Botswana. Different experts will present each program in this series.

Another six-week series on Mondays will start on October 23, featuring Denise Youngblood, professor of history at UVM, who will present "Power and Personality in Russian History," focusing on such people as Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, Alexander II, Stalin, and Gorbachev. The variety series, starting on October 27 will range from a discussion of Vermont's butterflies to a preview of President Bush's last Congress.

Recently Burlington has lost its claim to be the only Vermont community with an EEE-style program. In 2001, the Green Mountain Academy, a non-profit, independent "life-long learning center" started up in the Manchester-Dorset area. It offers some 60 programs a year to people of all ages, ranging from bridge and culinary lessons to literature, politics, and music - with extras like brown bag lunches and theater trips. In 2003, Deborah Worthley at UVM's division of Continuing Education received the first of four grants from the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute to spread the idea to several other communities. Now volunteer organizations, much like EEE, organize programs for seniors in Rutland, Brattleboro, Springfield, Montpelier-Barre, St. Johnsbury, Newport, St. Albans, and the Lamoille Valley. Except for the Green Mountain Academy, members of any Vermont program can attend classes developed by groups in other parts of the state - at no extra charge.

"It's a long, cold winter up here," says Jane Becker of Charlotte. "In two years, maybe one EEE program has disappointed me. An added bonus: the people are warm and welcoming."

For More Information:

• EEE classes meet on Mondays and Fridays, 2:00pm at the Faith United Methodist Church, 899 Dorset Street. South Burlington.
  Information: Call Don Merit, President, 862-2531
• Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes in other Vermont communities: Deborah Worthley, 656-4220
• Fall 2006 programs for EEE and Osher Institutes, www.learn.uvm.edu/osher. Click on "Institute Finder."
• Contact the Green Mountain Academy at 802-362-0788, www.gmall.org
  
  Barbara Leitenberg writes on senior issues for the Champlain Valley Agency on Aging. This article originally appeared in the Burlington Free Press.