For 15 years, Seabrook, an Erickson Living community in Tinton Falls, N.J., has had a mutually beneficial relationship with SCAN of New Jersey. The adult education center provides continuous learning courses to adults age 50-plus in the Eatontown and Tinton Falls areas.

Recently, SCAN honored Seabrook with the Leader of Distinction Award for its service to the community.

Rewarding partnership

“We residents are very fortunate that SCAN is willing to hold classes here at Seabrook for the benefit of the community, not just residents,” says Regina Thomas. Thomas has taken the short story course for several years, she says.

“It’s like many other amenities that Seabrook offers. This is an additional one where we don’t have to travel to the Monmouth Mall” she adds.

The short story class, Regina says, offers a particular convenience for those with low vision by being offered at Seabrook.

“I’m a trained reader, so I read the stories and the others follow. Then the instructor leads a discussion about the story and the author,” she says. “That mix would not have happened if [the class] were somewhere else. That’s the advantage of having it under the same roof as all the other Seabrook amenities.”

Most SCAN classes are offered at Monmouth Mall, but four to five courses a semester take place at Seabrook, which provides its classrooms as a satellite campus.

“By us being a satellite campus, it allows residents to literally walk down the hall to take a class. And outside people can come to our campus to take a class as well,” says Resident Life Director Gary Engelstad.

Engelstad accepted the award on behalf of Seabrook at the organization’s 24th annual awards luncheon, which Seabrook hosts each year. “It’s been a classic win-win relationship,” Engelstad says. “Our residents are exposed to higher learning opportunities, and SCAN benefits financially by having more classrooms.”

Opera at home

SCAN offers nearly 40 courses a semester, from art and music to language and fitness. Additionally, the organization plans cultural events and day trips to places like the Philadelphia Flower Show, Presby Iris Gardens, Nemours Mansion, museums, and New York City.

This semester, classes at Seabrook include Beginning Line Dancing, Opera Appreciation, What to Listen for in Creative Music, and Short Story Workshop. Each class meets weekly for 13 weeks.

Jeanne McArthur has taken the Opera Appreciation class for the past two-and-a-half years. As an opera lover, she says, “It’s a very interesting class, and it’s wonderful to have it and classical music offered right here at Seabrook.”

Throughout the 13-week course, the class studies three operas. “We listen to it for three to four sessions, then we discuss what the opera is about, how the music tells the story, and voice types. We’ve done a comparison of tenor and bass voices and time periods in which the operas were written,” she says.

They’ve studied such operas as Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (“The Marriage of Figaro”), Verdi’s Macbeth and Aida, and Puccini’s La Bohème, among many others.

“We’ve done a vast array of operas,” Jeanne says. “The instructor has sung opera and has seen an incredible number of operas. Her husband is an opera singer.”

Jeanne moved to Seabrook from New York City, where she regularly attended operas at the Metropolitan Opera House. Now, she not only takes the SCAN course, she also attends “The Met: Live in HD,” a live broadcast from the Met at Monmouth University, on Saturdays.

To learn more about SCAN, become a member, or view current courses, visit scannj.com or call 732-542-1326.