By Jimmie Covington
Memphis Commercial Appeal
February 17, 2007
Robert Flinn taught school for 48 years and completed coursework for a doctorate.
Ida Flinn, his wife, worked more than 33 years at the old General Electric plant in Memphis. Along the way, she took a few work-related courses but didn't formally attend college.
On two mornings a week this spring, the Flinns can be found among a group of students in a distance learning classroom at the University of Mississippi at DeSoto Center in Southaven.
Flinn, 67, and her husband, 73, are among nine students 65 and older attending college classes tuition-free this spring at Ole Miss and Northwest Mississippi Community College at the center. Five are at Ole Miss and four are at NWCC.
The opportunity for older residents of the state to attend classes tuition-free either for credit or just as a learning experience is little known but has been provided for years at the two public higher education institutions in DeSoto County and elsewhere in the state. Similar programs are available in other states.
Ole Miss at the center limits each person to one class per semester. But residents 65 and older may take a full load of NWCC classes. Enrollment is on a space available basis, but Richie Lawson, NWCC DeSoto dean, said he does not recall any instances where the community college has turned anyone away at the center.
Elizabeth Hill, 67, was delighted when she learned about Ole Miss' Lifetime Learner program from a university publication. Hill, who holds a master's degree, taught ninth and 10th grade English for about 20 years in Arkansas and Mississippi before retiring at Southaven High School in 2000. She had also worked several years as a technical writer at Federal Express.
Hill holds education dearly. Thinking about how she might have missed out on a college education as a young woman still brings tears to her eyes.
In the mid-1960s, she was 25 years old, married and had two children. She and her husband, Forest Hill, were working hard to support their family. She worked at Holiday Inns.
National Defense Education Act loans opened the way for her to attend Memphis State University, where she was a student during 1966-71, finishing with a master's degree.
When Hill retired from Southaven High at age 60, she let her teaching license expire.
However, she loves to learn and although she has no plans to go back to a classroom setting, she decided she wanted to renew her license, which she said she could do with one course since she has a master's degree.
She jumped at the chance to take a special education course tuition free at Ole Miss. "Children with special needs are dear, dear to my heart," she said.
"I am much too active to be old," she said. "I hope that I die with an active driver's license and a teaching license. I am definitely not ready to be expired. I want to be interesting and I want to be interested in everything."
The Hills live in Olive Branch. They now have nine grandchildren and spend part of their time handling their rental property.
The Flinns are also property owners in DeSoto County. They once owned almost 500 acres but they are now down to less than 400, Ida Flinn said.
In Shelby County and Memphis, Robert Flinn taught at Whitehaven, Geeter and Hillcrest high schools before retiring in 1988. He later held several teaching posts in DeSoto County, including DeSoto County Alternative Center and the school district's homebound program.
The paralegal course is his second tuition-free course at Ole Miss. He took an income tax course last fall. He found the course difficult, but he said, "They said I made a C in it."
Dr. Bonnie Buntin, Ole Miss dean, said the mixture of older people and young people in the classroom is a good thing.