Longboat Key Education Center readies for season in multiple forms

For the 35th anniversary of the Longboat Key Education Center, Executive Director Susan Goldfarb wanted to have concerts, big celebrations and a commemorative brochure of classes. 

Most of those plans will proceed, but because it’s 2020, they will be mostly virtual like most other things. 

“I have invested in a new website flip-page brochure so people can flip the pages like it was a real brochure,” Goldfarb said. “And I'm reducing the number of printed brochures … We print about 5,500 brochures, (and) we're only going to print up about 3,500 this year. I know my students love looking through that brochure, and 35 years is a big milestone and I just wanted a commemorative brochure.” 

Usually, that brochure is in the hands of Goldfarb’s students by the first week of August, but she’s just finished the final proof as she wrangles Zoom classes, hybrid classes and a few small in-person classes and all their codes for signups. 

“At the last minute, somebody will say, ‘I don’t think I want to teach in-person,’ ” Goldfarb said. “Things change all the time.” 

With all the shuffling, everything is happening about a month later than normal. Members of the center will get their first swing at sign-ups in mid-September, while non-members can sign up in late September. Zoom classes will start in October, followed by in-person and hybrid classes in November. 

“It's a learning curve for us, and since we're the Education Center, I guess we're going to have to be the pioneers in learning how to Zoom,” Goldfarb said. “There are many bigger organizations that have a whole IT department that's going to be on top of this way more than we can be, but we're going to give it our best shot … We will have one staff member and he'll do his best.”

With the combination of online-only, hybrid and in-person classes, the Longboat Key Education Center is looking a bit like many universities across the country. Indeed, in the beginning Goldfarb watched colleges to see how they fared, but as the overwhelming months wore on she had to focus on her students on Longboat Key. 

“I had to really concentrate on the course descriptions and conferring with my teachers and just sticking to my own world there, Longboat Key on the second floor where everything happens,” Goldfarb said. 

It’s been a challenge to figure out which classes should be in which format. A lot of classes have had to be dropped (like the beloved winter day trips) or reimagined, but there are some that Goldfarb isn’t sure will work if they have to go online-only. A decision about the status of in-person classes will be made in mid-October, and Goldfarb worries they may have to drop bridge and some of the more literal hands-on classes, like canasta and mah jongg. 

“Those definitely, we will let go of if we can't have them in-person because  they're handling cards, but with yoga, you can have your own little space and you can be six feet away from people,” Goldfarb said. “But with the card handling, we may not be able to have that. We might have to wait until the winter and even then I'm not sure.” 

Goldfarb has tried to customize each class and rework it to best serve everyone. People might be willing to come to an in-person class, she said, but in some cases it just can’t happen. The perennially popular Supreme Court class draws 95 students a year, so Goldfarb settled on a hybrid model for the course. 

One thing Goldfarb will miss most about the season as normal is the flow of people in and out of the building at the Centre Shops, which is one of her favorite parts of life as executive director. She sent out a survey over the summer and found that some students were not planning on coming back to the island at all.

“When you come to Longboat Key, let's face it, you don't come to sit in your condo with your laptop, you come to get out, meet people, go to the beach, and when you're not going to the beach, you go to the Education Center for mental stimulation,” Goldfarb said. “I'm not saying you can't mentally stimulate your mind online, but it's a different kind.”

However, the Education Center has grown by over 300 members, Goldfarb said, and many whose spring classes were canceled turned their would-be class fees into donations for the center. Surveyed students wanted to pay the same for Zoom classes what they would for in-person classes as well. Between member generosity, an understanding landlord and grants and loans, the center has its survival funds in place and Goldfarb is optimistic about the upcoming season, even despite the growing costs for protective equipment, plexiglass screens and a Zoom account. 

“Even if students didn't come down this year, they wanted us to be here the following year,” Goldfarb said. “They just wanted us to be here that much that they were willing to give a good sizable donation to make sure we survive. We want to be around, we want to get through this. Keep hoping and coping.”