Valerie’s House Welcomes Elisa Bowersox, CPA at Board Treasurer
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| Hundreds of lectures. Knowledgeable instructors. Join us in-person at one of our 19 locations or participate online.  JANUARY – MAY 2024 PROGRAM REGISTRATION IS NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE OR VIA PHONE Keep your mind active and engaged in the new year! Register for a lecture with FGCU Academy! Register for a Day Trip with FGCU Academy! Greetings, FGCU Academy has so many new lectures this year that have been so exciting. Why not come join us for a few? CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE 2024 WINTER-SPRING PROGRAM GUIDE ONLINE! WINTER-SPRING REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN AVAILABLE ONLINE BY CLICKING HERE Call our offices anytime for assistance at 239.434.4737 Featured Classes for Week of February 05 – Feb 9 Click on any topic below to learn more.  Apple Watch Tips, Tricks and Secrets of the New Watch OS 10 February 5 | 10:30- 12 pm Monday Naples Center / Online via Zoom Join this lecture-style presentation as we explore the many features of the Apple Watch. It’s not just about telling time, it’s about phone calls, email messages, maps, music, photos, health tracking, Apple Pay, fall detection and so much more.  Debunking Myths About Dietary Supplements February 6 | 10 – 11:30 am Tuesday Brooks Enrichment Center Have you struggled with all the marketing hype and contradicting information on the internet regarding the use of dietary supplements? Which products are best for your individual health needs and why? At the end of this presentation attendees will be able to identify how to purchase a high-quality dietary supplement and discuss the pros/ cons of several categories of popular supplements (e.g., osteoarthritis pain, high cholesterol, bone health, sleep health, general health, prostate health, more).  Diversity and Unity February 7 | 10 – 11:30 am Wednesday Naples Center / Online via Zoom How can we forge unity in a world that is deeply polarized? Historically, this was done well by an organization named Moral Re-Armament. They were masterful at reconciling the political left and right, unions and management, and East and West. They were extremely successful in hundreds of situations in the 1940s and 1950s. This lecture presents how they did it and invites part- icipants to think about developing an equivalent approach for modern times. DAY TRIPS  Flagler Mansion and Gilded Age Tea Lunch February 13 | 8 – 6pm West Palm Beach This tour offers participants the opportunity to visit the mansion of Henry Flagler, the man single-handedly responsible for developing the East Coast of Florida. Whitehall, the 60,000 square-foot home that he built in Palm Beach as a wedding present for his wife, was described in 1902 by the New York Herald as “more wonderful than any palace in Europe, grander and more magnificent than any other private dwelling in the world.” Included are transportation, driver gratuity, and a docent-led tour of the mansion’s first floor and lunch. Departure information will be emailed 3 days prior to the trip. Itineraries are subject to change.  Vizcaya Museum Tour with Lunch March 6 | 7:30 – 6:30 pm Miami Vizcaya was created as James Deering’s subtropical winter home in the 1910s and today it is a National Historic Landmark and accredited museum. Vizcaya is beautiful and serene. It is also a place of intellectual stimulation, compelling us to consider the relationships between native and foreign, old and new and natural and designed. Vizcaya has been described as “the finest private house ever built in America,” “a jewel among Miami’s skyscrapers and subdivisions” and “some Noah’s Ark of decorative arts” with its exteriors offering the “manic tranquility of the great European folly gardens.” Included are transportation, driver gratuity and a docent-led tour of portions of the collection. A box lunch is also included. Departure information will be emailed 3 days prior to the trip. Itineraries are subject to change.. The Week Ahead Monday February 5 –Navajo Code Talkers Tuesday February 6 –Five Great American Presidents –The Chicago 8 Conspiracy Trial Wednesday February 7 –How the Modern Bible Came to Be –The Invisibility of Social Issues in Southwest Florida Thursday February 8 –The A to Zzz’s of Sleep Health –The Free State of Florida: Really? What About Responsibility? Friday February 9 –“The Letter” by Former Intelligence Officials on the Hunter Biden Laptop –Russian “Sleeper” Spies: The Illegals Program –The Pentagon Papers in the Ellsberg Trial TAKE A LECTURE AT ONE OF OUR 19 LOCATIONS The Arlington, Naples (AR) Aston Gardens, North Naples (AG) Bentley Village, North Naples (BV) Bonita Bay Community Assoc., Bonita (BB) Brooks Enrichment Center, Bonita (BR) The Collaboratory, Ft. Myers (CO) Cypress Cove, Ft. Myers (CC) FGCU Main Campus, Ft. Myers (FG) Grey Oaks Country Club, Naples (GR) Hideaway Beach Club, Marco island (HB) The Island Country Club, Marco island (IC) Moorings Park Grande Lake, Naples (GL) Moorings Park at Grey Oaks, Naples (GO) Moorings Park Original Campus, Naples (MP) Naples Center, Naples (NC) Siena Lakes, North Naples (SL) The TwinEagles Club, North Naples (TE) United Church of Marco Island, Marco (UC) Wyndemere Country Club, Naples (WC) (see page 4 of the Winter-Spring 2024 Program Guide for location addresses) FGCU Academy  Click Below to View 2024 Travel Open House Presentation  Classic Safari: Kenya & Tanzania August 13-28, 2024 16 days for $11,196 View Brochure  Exploring Iceland August 15-25, 2024 11 days for $6,692 View Brochure  Southern Italy & Sicily September 4-18, 2024 15 days for $6,674 View Brochure  Scotland: Highlands & Islands September 9-20, 2024 12 days for $5,896 View Brochure  Sensations of Lyon & Provence 2024 River Cruise September 17 – 28, 2024 12 days from $5,469 View Brochure  Jewels of the Rhine 2024 River Cruise September 20 – 30, 2024 11 days from $4,925 View Brochure  Provincial French Countryside September 27-October 11, 2024 15 days for $6,297 View Brochure  New Zealand Adventure October 10-25, 2024 16 days for $8,124 View Brochure  Southeast Asia Odysseys October 31-November 18, 2024 19 days for $7,597 View Brochure  Travel Abroad with FGCU Academy Call our office 239.434.4737 for assistance with registration or Click to View our Website DONATE NOW FGCU Academy Needs Your Support Today to Ensure that Our Critical Mission of Adult Education and Enrichment Continues! FGCU Academy is ready to serve the SWFL community for the Winter-Spring 2024 Season—Learning, Growing, Sharing and Socializing. With nearly 700 programs at more than nineteen locations, there is something for everyone. If we have had the opportunity to meet in person or if you have heard me speak, I hope I was able to share with you my passion about FGCU Academy and its mission to provide life- long learning and enrichment to the SWFL community. I believe it is critical to our well-being to keep exploring new avenues for growth to keep our minds engaged in our past, present and future. Since we are a non-credit programmatic offering, Florida Gulf Coast University can provide $0.00 of support to the Academy. We must be financially self-sustaining. The fact is that the revenue generated through memberships and program fees provides for only 50% of our annual operating costs. Additionally, our attendance has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels, so revenue is much lower than in the past. As an educator, I find myself slightly uncomfortable talking about the financial needs of the Academy beyond thanking everyone for their participation. But, this year and for the near future, it is important that I find the words to ask for additional support through phil- anthropic donations. Our passion keeps us moving forward and your donations will do the same. Please take a moment to consider a year-end donation to ensure our continued success. All amounts make a difference in strengthening the work we do in the community. Your gift will allow the Academy to offer more than 1,000 diverse and fascinating programs at more than twenty locations throughout SWFL. Through our mission we promise to enrich the lives, minds and social well-being of more than 10,000 SWFL adults and seniors that participate in our programs each year. CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW or mail your donation to FGCU Academy 704 Goodlette Frank Road North, Suite 330 Naples, FL 34102 I look forward to seeing you at a FGCU Academy program in 2024. Please contact me directly at [email protected] or 239.434.4838 with questions or to learn more. In gratitude, John J. Guerra Director of FGCU Academy     FGCU Academy FGCU ACADEMY NAPLES CENTER 704 Goodlette-Frank Rd N Suite 330 Naples, FL 34102 239.434.4737 [email protected] |