By Rusty Nixon Correspondent
PLYMOUTH — You may look around and find out that your neighbors are smarter – or at least enjoying life a little more.
That is the result hoped for from the People’s University program that began in the fall here in Marshall County, and after a first semester, the program has been a success. Nearly 300 people in the county took courses to learn skills that will let them have a higher quality of life.

The idea was a cooperation between many county agencies – The Marshall County Council on Aging, St. Joseph Regional Medical Center, Ancilla College, Earthworks, The Plymouth Park Department, The Marshall County Historical Society, the various county Chambers of Commerce and Libraries — in an attempt to bring classes to teach various skills to area residents. Classes were held all over Marshall County.
“The classes that were most popular were the ones that followed the original thought mission,” said Jackie Wright, director of the Marshall County Council on Aging. “If a company makes widgets, teach a class on how to use the widgets and people learn a new skill while also coming in to see your store.”
Classes in floral arrangement at Felke’s in Plymouth were a big hit, along with courses on coffee and tea taught by Dawn Minas at the Culver Coffee Company, Ancilla’s classes in breadmaking, and computer and digital photography classes at the library.
“Simple quality and self enrichment classes seemed to be really popular,” said Wright. “‘Money Smart Week’ was also a very positive thing since we were able to get a lot of promotion out there for both projects.”
The sponsors of the People’s University have wrapped up their first semester, targeting difficulties and preparing for next year’s course schedule.
“The biggest problem we had was in people understanding how to register,” said Wright. “We had so many partners who had sponsored classes themselves in the past I think it made it confusing to know where to sign up. Originally it was also a little difficult to get people to teach classes.”
The second obstacle was quickly overcome.
“Once they understood exactly what they were doing they jumped on,” said Wright. “All our teachers are really happy and excited about teaching a course again next fall. They all really liked the idea of giving back to the community.”