The Value of Continuing Education

As we age, our brain tends to slow down. Part of this is often due to the fact we don’t use our brains as much.  Harvard Medical School suggest six steps that you can do to keep your mind healthy 6 simple steps to keep your mind sharp at any age - Harvard Health . I’m using these steps to promote National Garden Clubs’ (NGC) schools. Schools aren’t only about credit, although you can become a consultant or a judge or use the educational hours to keep up your Master Gardener certification. NGC schools are a form of continuing education and thus keeping your mind sharp.

1. Keep learning: Nobody should ever stop learning.  There are always new things to learn.  Every National Garden Clubs Course, whether Landscape Design, Gardening, Environmental or Flower Show School, educates us.  No two courses are alike.
2. Use all your senses:  NGC schools require us to use our senses. We listen to the instructors; we see examples of gardens, environmental concerns or flower show exhibits; if we’re at an in-person meeting we smell the flowers at flower show schools or while visiting gardens. If we’re on a zoom meeting, we can certainly remember scents; we touch, even if it’s touching our keyboard. We taste, if only our lunches.
3. Believe in yourself: Schools give you a sense of accomplishment. They help you set goals. I’ve mentioned one of my goals is to become a 5-star member.
4. Prioritize your brain use: Use your brain to gain knowledge of how to do things better. Environmental School is an example of using the knowledge I’ve learned to become a better steward of our planet.
5. Repeat what you want to know: When I attended my first flower show school course, I remember sitting down at a table and writing down what I’d learned that day. Doing this helps with memorization.
6. Stay physically active: When I attended my first Environmental School, it was at Put-in-Bay, Ohio, an island in Lake Erie.  We waded into Lake Erie to take a sample to see if water was healthy. Many in-person schools have hands-on activities. If you’re doing a Zoom school, get up and stretch during breaks.
7. Get enough sleep Just don’t sleep during class.
8. Eat a healthy diet: Enough said.

During the last administration, National Garden Clubs offered the four courses of Gardening Schools via Zoom. During this administration we’re offering all four courses of Environmental School via Zoom. Course 2 will be offered March  11-12.  Sign up on this link: https://gardenclubwebsite.wufoo.com/forms/ngc-environmental-school-course-2-series-z001 

Not a fan of Zoom schools? Many states offer in-person as well as their own Zoom schools. Check out the offerings on our website  Our Schools | National Garden Clubs, Inc.

The views and opinions expressed in the National Garden Clubs, Inc. (NGC) blog and podcasts are solely those of the original author(s) and other contributors.  These views and opinions do not necessarily reflect those of NGC.