101 year-old is a Vol State Lifelong Learner

Joe Spann is a genealogist and on this day he’s explaining emigration to the American Colonies. “Most of you will have ancestors in one of these groups,” he said, pointing to a projection that lists Scots-Irish, Quaker, English Elite and Puritans. If it sounds like a history class, it is, of sorts. But it’s for a different group of students than you might normally expect at Volunteer State Community College. These are Lifelong Learners, many of them retirees, looking for some intellectual fun. The group is attending one in a series of lectures called KEY Lifelong Learning at Vol State. KEY stands for Keep Educating Yourself. 101 year-old Allene Byars of Gallatin has attended several of the lectures with her daughters. “”I’m interested in history and genealogy, almost anything along those lines,” Byars said. “I’m a born student. I read a lot. Yesterday we had a lecture about art and I was interested in that. I’ve read all of the books in the lecture series and I want to see what the speakers say about them.” Vol State Continuing Education is putting on the program. They offer classes throughout the year for fun, career and workforce development. For details visit www.volstate.edu/CE ### Pictured: Allene Byars and her daughters Ann Byars (left) and Kay Cook (right) during a break in the lecture series at Vol State.