>> around town

Sharing The Court

Three groups enjoyed basketball

and learning from one another

at Friendship Circle.

hree groups came together on Sunday, March
23, at Friendship Circle in West Bloomfield for
a friendly game of basketball. Yet this special
game served as a way to raise awareness of disabilities
and to erase the barriers between typically develop-
ing children and their peers with special needs, and to
allow friendships and inclusion to form.
The groups included those in the Friendship Circle

basketball league, where kids with special needs and
typical peers learn skills and play; a group of student
ambassadors from the group People to People; and a
group of University of Michigan students from Alpha
Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity.
All in all, about 30-40 college students, 20 People to
People ambassadors and 20 Friendship Circle basketball
league kids and their teen coaches participated. ❑

Referee Cary Heller in the middle of the groups of players

Pre-game time in the foam pits

Kids take to the court at Friendship Circle.

Matthew Chayt of West Bloomfield; U-M students Thibaut Dupuy and Alex Clisham

Still Learning

Meer Academy offers

classes to seniors on varied topics of interest.

M

eer Academy of Lifelong Learning, an adult education program, was
established to meet the intellectual needs of older adults residing at
the Meer Jewish Apartments in West Bloomfield, a residence of Jewish
Senior Life.
Meer Academy included a series of four diverse classes that each met for three
or four one-hour sessions. The classes were Local Politics taught by Professor
Terri Towner from Oakland University; Art Appreciation taught by a Detroit
Institute of Arts Speakers Bureau member; the Current State of Affairs in Israel
taught by Kobi Erez, executive director of the Zionist Organization of America;
and Jewish Culture taught by Rabbi Aaron Starr of Congregation Shaarey Zedek.
Twenty-five or more residents attended each class. At the end, participants
celebrated with a graduation party and earned diplomas.
"Attending the classes at Meer Academy has been a most rewarding experi-
ence," said Meer resident Janet Kover. "We are looking forward to a continuation
of the academy in the fall." ❑

Rabbi Aaron Starr talks to Meer Acdemy students about different streams
of Judaism.

Barbara Goldsmith from the DIA Speakers Bureau talks about Diego Rivera.

April 26 • 2012

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