03/19/2006 01:00 AM EST

STORIES BY LAURA MEADE KIRK
Journal Staff Writer

In what school can a Rhode Islander learn to flirt -- and to build a quaint stone wall? What school takes you on a behind-the-scenes tour of the eateries on Federal Hill -- and coaches you on to how to save money on your taxes? What institution of higher learning teaches you how to massage your partner -- and to fix a drain?

It's called the Learning Connection, and you've undoubtedly seen piles of its free catalogs by the door in your favorite restaurant. What you might not know if you've never taken a class, however, is that it provides inexpensive, convenient and wildly varied ways for adults to learn something new -- and to have fun along the way.

Dreamed up 25 years ago, the Learning Connection has blossomed into one of the premiere adult education programs in the country, serving as a model for others nationwide. Its 1,200 ever-changing classes attract 10,000 students each year, or nearly 250,000 over the past 25 years.

"I don't know if there are many other organizations who touch as many people as we do," said founder Greg Marsello.

JUST BEFORE the Learning Connection was born, disco was king.

"When [adult education programs] started, the all-time greatest adult ed course ever was disco. But it's hard to find a disco class now," said William Draves, president of the Learning Exchange Resource Network, a Wisconsin-based national clearinghouse for such programs. That's part of the intriguing challenge of adult ed: figuring out what people are itching to learn right now.

"These programs are a barometer of what people are interested in, what they're doing, what they're buying, what they value -- and it's fun to see how things have changed," Graves said.

The most popular courses in 2006? Locally, it's "Kabbalah: Window on Jewish Mysticism," and "How To Get the Most From Your Digital Camera."

But the Learning Connection is so successful that it's now importing teachers and speakers from across the country, including Danica d'Hondt, author of two books on the Da Vinci Code, who'll be in town in June to talk about "Cracking the DaVinci Code" around the time the movie based on Dan Brown's book is scheduled to be released.

With that kind of clout, it's amusing for founder Marsello to remember that when the program began, he had to beg family members and friends -- including his former roommate, renowned storyteller/singer Bill Harley -- to teach courses here.

A UNIQUE ASPECT of the Learning Connection is that it encourages lay people, with no special training or qualifications, to share their talents or knowledge with others in the community. "Anyone can teach," Marsello said, "and anyone can learn."

It's based on the "free" college movement that surfaced in the 1960s, when college campuses were being taken over by sit-ins and demonstrations, and students wound up teaching each other.

But free colleges went further, offering nontraditional courses such as cooking and bookkeeping. The idea, he said, was to encourage people to share with their community what they knew.

He first heard of the premise while an undergrad at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., in the 1970s, where he'd met the woman who's now his wife, Melinda Foley-Marsello, who was studying at nearby Kirkland College. Together, they founded the Free College of Clinton in 1974.

They started with eight class offerings. The classes weren't really "free," he said. "What it means is that people are free to teach or take the classes -- there are no requirements."

But the charges were nominal, and the classes didn't require a major investment of time.

"You learn it on Monday and use it on Tuesday," said Kathy Brady-Romanelli, vice president and executive director of the Learning Connection.

The Free School of Clinton was quickly a success. Meanwhile, Marsello and Foley-Marsello graduated in 1977, returned to Rhode Island where they'd each grown up, and married in 1979.

He was working as a production manager in his family's jewelry business, Imperial Pearl Co., when he decided to launch the Learning Connection here in 1981, based on the model they'd created in Clinton.

At the time, some schools in Rhode Island offered a handful of adult learning programs, Marsello said. "But none as diverse as what we were doing and none where anyone could teach -- that was the big difference."

He enlisted the help of family and friends to teach classes -- line dancing, knitting for beginners and "masculism," the male alternative to women's lib. "They aren't the kinds of classes you'd be taking at college," Marsello said. They were designed to be informative and fun.

They expected maybe 250 people to sign up for the 40 classes, but more than 400 people enrolled for that initial session, Marsello said.

They knew they had a winner.

THE SHARE-THE-KNOWLEDGE concept caught on, not only at the Learning Connection, but elsewhere. Similar adult learning programs are now offered at a variety of venues -- from museums and zoos to high schools, trade schools and colleges that offer noncredit courses in all kinds of topics.

In the beginning, though, marketing the concept was the hardest part.

"The idea that anyone could teach and anyone could learn was actually new and heretical," said Draves of the Learning Exchange Resource Network. "The idea that someone could walk off the streets and say, 'Yeah, I know guitar' or 'I know Spanish and I can teach you' wasn't practiced in institutions. Now, everyone embraces it."

Still, the Learning Connection is among fewer than 100 independent lifelong learning programs nationwide, according to Draves .

Thousands of adult education and continuing education opportunities are offered through high schools, recreation departments, and colleges. But the Learning Connection is the largest independent program in this region, with branches in Providence, Newport, South County and New Bedford.

"Rhode Island is very fortunate to have the Learning Connection," Draves said. "It's one of the top programs in the nation and it's a leader -- other programs all around North America look to the Learning connection and what they're doing."

THERE WERE no obvious trends when the Learning Connection launched 25 years ago. Its first catalog featured 40 courses including cooking, dance, arts and home improvement, which are all popular today, too.

But over the years, it's been among the first in the region to offer subjects such as yoga and break dancing.

Recently, a seminar featuring psychic Sylvia Browne drew 3,500 people who wanted to learn how to communicate with the dead.

"Some of these classes, you might look at and say, 'That sounds weird,' but we say, 'That's what people want,' " Marsello said.

They get ideas for classes based on what's hot on television or the big screen. They check trends from other cities and states, including California, Washington, D.C., Seattle and Denver, which tend to be on the leading edge of the curve. Anything on mind and memory is hot in California right now, so expect to see those kinds of classes at the Learning Connection soon.

There's an eclectic mix of teachers, Brady-Romanelli said, including a chef at XO restaurant in Providence who loves to teach about sushi, a Brown University librarian who loves to knit, and Frederick Meli, an anthropology professor at the University of Rhode Island who teaches art classes at the Learning Connection in his free time.

Meli said he had once tried to make a living as an artist, after graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design. When that didn't work, he turned to anthropology. But after taking a poetry course through the Learning Connection, he decided to teach there, offering courses in drawing, painting, water color and pen and ink.

It's a great place to learn, Meli said. "You get adult education in a relaxed atmosphere -- no pressure, no grades involved."

But national and local experts are tapped too. Chris Gasbarro, owner of Gasbarro's Fine Wine & Spirits, recently teamed with a chef from Johnson & Wales University to offer a course on how to pair Italian wines with food.

There aren't many subjects they won't take on, Marsello said, though they steer clear of Bible studies and sex toys. "That's too extreme for us," he said.

But, Romanelli-Brady, "We do offer burlesque dancing -- which is done in a very tasteful manner."

That variety is what attracts people such as Cindy Opaluch of Wakefield, a kindergarten teacher in South Kingstown. She's taken cooking, art and writing courses over the years. Among her favorites: learning to make jonnycakes and jams. She even took horseback riding lessons to prepare for a trip to a dude ranch.

She says the Learning Connection courses are an inexpensive way to find out whether you really like something or not. Plus, she said, she always has a good time.

"You can really get caught up in your job or taking care of stuff around the house. It's just nice to leave all that behind and go out and do something fun."

Meli, the art teacher, agreed. He said the students and teachers enjoy a different relationship than in a traditional school setting. "I've made a couple of lifelong friends through the classes I've taught."

Marsello said the Learning Connection is known for its social aspect.

"I think one of the key reasons people take our class is to meet other people like themselves," Marsello said, who share the same interest or a desire to learn something new.

It's especially popular among women ages 30 to 60, who make up 75 percent of the registrations, Marsello said. But he also sees it as the senior citizen center of the future.

Marsello said people of his generation are going to want to stay active and educated through programs such as the Learning Connection. "It's a good, safe place for someone to come out and meet very interesting people, interesting instructors, and have a fun night out."

y 25 years ago when she heard about a new program -- the Learning Connection of Providence -- that offered a smorgasbord of classes in everything from arts and music to cooking and culture.

"I thought it was very exciting to have all those different classes that you could take and try out new things," said Opaluch, a kindergarten teacher in South Kingstown.

It was a novel concept back then, said Greg Marsello, who founded the Learning Connection in 1981. Some local high schools, colleges and universities were offering traditional adult education and degree programs. But none offered a variety of non-traditional courses, from knitting and line dancing to the basic home improvement.

The program also was unique in that it encouraged lay people, with no special training or qualifications, to share their talents or knowledge with others in the community.

The Learning Connection gave them that forum, allowing virtually anyone to teach courses as varied as "The Art of Storytelling" and "Basic Marxism."

And anyone could take those courses for a nominal fee, without the commitments of time and money required of more formal programs.

The idea behind the Learning Connection, he explained, is the belief that "anyone can teach and anyone can learn."

The concept quickly caught on, not only at the Learning Connection, but elsewhere. Similar adult learning programs are now offered at a variety of venues -- from museums and zoos to high schools, trade schools and colleges that offer non-credit courses in all kinds of topics.

But the Learning Connection remains the largest independent source of adult education in the region -- offering about 1,200 classes that attract 10,000 students each year, or nearly 25 million over the past 25 years.??

"I don't know if there are many other organizations who touch as many people as we do," Marsello said.

Then again, there aren't many other organizations like the Learning Connection, which has blossomed into one of the premiere adult education programs in the country, serving as a model for others nationwide.

Marsello said the Learning Connection is based on the "free" college movement that surfaced in the 1960s, when college campuses were being taken over by sit-ins and demonstrations and students wound up teaching each other.

But free colleges went even further, offering untraditional courses such as cooking and bookkeeping. The idea, he said, was to encourage people to share what they knew while giving others the opportunity to learn new things.

He first heard of the premise while an undergrad at Hamilton College in the 1970s, where he'd met the woman who's now his wife, Melinda Foley-Marsello, who was studying at nearby Kirkland College. Together, they founded the Free College of Clinton in 1974.

They started with a one-page brochure, featuring eight class offerings. The classes weren't really "free," he said. "What it means is that people are free to teach or take the classes -- there are no requirements."

But the charges were nominal, especially as compared with the tuition and fees charged by colleges and universities, Marsello said. That was always one of his goals: To keep the education affordable "so anyone could participate.". The classes also didn't require a major investment of time, he said. The courses generally lastlasting a few hours or a few days, instead of months or years.

"You learn it on Monday and use it on Tuesday," said Kathy Brady-Romanelli, who's vice-president and executive director of the Learning Connection.

The Free School of Clinton was quickly a success there, and it continued after Marsello and Foley-Marsello graduated in 1977 and returned to Rhode Island, where they'd each grown up. They married, two years later.

Meanwhile, he was working as a production manger in his family's jewelry business, Imperial Pearl Co., when he decided to launch the Learning Connection here in 1981, based on the model they'd created in Clinton.

At the time, some schools in Rhode Island may have offered a handful of adult learning programs, Marsello said. "But none as diverse as what we were doing and none where anyone could teach -- that was the big difference."

He enlisted the help of family and friends to teach classes in a variety of subjects things like line dancing, knitting for beginners and "masculism," the male alternative to women's lib. "They aren't the kinds of classes you'd be taking at college," Marsello said. They were designed to be informative and fun.

They expected maybe 250 people to sign up for the 40 classes, but more than 400 people enrolled for that initial session, Marsella said.

They knew they had a winner.

The Learning Connection is among fewer than 100 independent lifelong learning programs nationwide, according to William Draves, president of the Learning Exchange Resource Network (LERN) in Wisconsin, which was founded 30 years ago to serve as a clearinghouse of information for such programs. (Marsello now works for them, too.)

"It was back in the dawn lifelong learning and nobody really knew how to run a program," Draves said. " Back then, we really didn't know what worked or what didn't, and what people in the public were interested in. So we got together to try to figure out how you market (a program) and how you get people involved."

The hardest part was marketing the program, he said. "The idea that anyone could teach and anyone could learn was actually new and heretical," Draves said. " The idea that someone could walk off the streets and say, 'Yeah, I know guitar' or 'I know Spanish and I can teach you' wasn't practiced in institutions. . Now, everyone embraces it."

In fact, he said, there are thousands of adult education and continuing education opportunities offered through local high schools, recreation departments, colleges and universities. But the Learning Connection is the largest independent program here in this region, with branches in Providence, Newport, South County and New Bedford.

"Rhode Island is very fortunate to have the Learning Connection," Draves said. " It's one of the top programs in the nation and it's a leader other programs all around North America look to the Learning connection and what they're doing."

The Learning Connection has soared since its inception, going from a small catalogue with a smattering of offerings to a 32-page color catalogue issued six times a year, featuring up to 200 classes for each session.

It has not only been successful with its programming offering a variety of courses that reflect trends and interests in the community but it's also the model of efficiency, from a business perspective, Marsello said.

It's run by a two-person staff, who produce six catalogues, coordinate arrangements for up to 1,200 courses and handle registrations for more than 10,000 participants each year. (They recently took over the South Coast Learning Network in New Bedford and were able to streamline their process, cutting the staff from six to one full-time and one part-time staffer.)

They've developed their own software program to handle registrations in person, by mail and on-line. That software program is now used by more than 100 other learning programs nationwide, he said.

They've managed to keep costs so low that the average class costs about $50, which includes paying the instructor and renting the necessary space for teaching it. Though it's a for-profit business, Marsello said it was never designed as a money-making venture but rather as an educational opportunity.

They're also able to offer an incredible variety of courses, Marsello noted. Gone are the days when he had to beg family members and friends including his former roommate, renown storyteller Bill Harley to teach courses here.

They're now importing teachers and speakers from across the country, including Danica d'Hondt, author of two books on the Da Vinci Code, who'll be in town in June to talk about "Cracking the DaVinci Code" around the time the movie based on Dan Brown's book is released.

"When (adult education programs) started, the all-time greatest adult ed course ever was disco. But it's hard to find a disco class now," Draves noted. "These programs are a barometer of what people are interested in, what they're doing, what they're buying, what they value and it's fun to see how things have changed."

There were no obvious trends when the Learning Connection first launched 25 years ago. Its first catalogue featured 40 courses including cooking, dance, arts and home improvement which are all still popular today, too.

But over the years, they've been among the first in the region to offer things like yoga and break dancing. Among the more popular recent offerings are courses on how to build a stone wall and canine massage.

"Some of these classes, you might look at and say, 'That sounds weird,' but we say, 'That's what people want,' }' Marsella said.

Some classes attract small crowds while others, like a seminar featuring psychic Sylvia Browne, drew 3,500 people who wanted to learn how to communicate with the dead.

They get ideas for classes based on what's hot on television or the big screen. They check trends from other cities and states, including California, Washington, Seattle and Denver, which tend to be on the leading edge of the curve. Things on mind and memory are hot in California right now, so expect to see them at the Learning Connection soon.

Meanwhile, the staff also taps national and local experts, like Chris Gasbarro, owner of gasbarro's Fine Wine & Spirits, who recently teamed with a chef from Johnson & Wales University to offer a course on how to pair Italian wines with food. They even had 30 people sign up for a recent ghost-hunting tour.

There's not much they won't take on, Marsello said, though they steer clear of things like Bible studies and sessions on sex toys. "That's too extreme for us," he said.

But, Romanelli-Brady, "We do offer burlesque dancing which is done in a very tasteful manner."

The variety is what attracts and keeps the attention of people like Opaluch of Wakefield, who's been taking classes since as long as the Learning Connection has offered them. "They're constantly coming up with new classes to keep it interesting, to keep it from getting stale." She's taken a variety of cooking, art and writing courses over the years. Among her favorites were classes teaching her to Among her favorites: learning to make johnnycakes and homemade jams. She's even taking took horseback riding lessons to prepare for a trip to a dude ranch years ago.

"It's different from going to a college and signing up for a degree," Opaluch said. "That's the nice thing about this You're getting a sneak preview or an introduction to something and, without spending a lot of money or a lot of time, just getting a sense of whether you like it or not."

It's also "comfortable and casual," said Opaluch. "You can really get caught up in your job or taking care of stuff around the house. It's just nice to leave all that behind and go out and do something fun."

She says it's an inexpensive way to find out whether you like a topic or not. Plus, she always has a good time.

"You can really get caught up in your job or taking care of stuff around the house. It's just nice to leave all that behind and go out and do something fun."

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Some instructors also have been around for years, including Tracy Rose, who's taught ballroom dancing and swing to hundreds of singles and couples over the years.

Her class sized has ebbed and flowed over the years, but the classes have been filled recently thanks in large part to shows like "Dancing with the Stars" and the Richard Gere movie "Shall We Dance."

But there will always be a demand for dance lessons, said Rose, who started teaching soon after the Learning Connection began offering classes. She saw an ad that they were looking for a dance instructor, and she's been teaching for them ever since.

"It's very easy to work for them," Rose explained. "They advertise. They set up everything for you. They provide a place to teach. All I have to do is show up."

And the students show up year after year as well, Rose said. "You get quite an array People come from all different walks of life. You might have doctors in there. You might have realtors, people who work in construction, people who drive buses. The common bond is, once they get into the class, they all enjoy dancing."

Even guys who are dragged their by their significant other to learn to dance for a wedding or a social event wind up having a good time, Rose said. "I have never really met anyone and I'm happy to say this that I haven't been able to teach to dance."

In fact, she said, she believes all men "want to be able to dance they just don't want to be embarrassed."

But after a 90-minute class, let alone a three-week session, anyone can dance, she promised.

There's an eclectic mix of teachers, Brady-Romanelli said, from a chef at XO restaurant who loves to teach about sushi to a librarian from Brown University who loves to knit to Frederick Meli, an anthropology professor at the University of Rhode Island by trade, he teaches art classes at the Learning Connection in his free time.

Meli had once tried to make a living as an artist, after graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design. When that didn't work, he turned to anthropology. But after taking a poetry course through the Learning Connection, he decided to teach there as well offering courses in drawing, painting, water color and pen and ink, among others.

It's a great place to learn, Meli said. "It's a place where you could get adult education in kind of a relaxed atmosphere (with) no pressure, no grades involved."

It's a lot different than traditional college courses or even adult education programs in local communities, which tend to focus more on business and vocational training, he said. "The Learning Connection has a lot more to offer It's just a very eclectic curriculum," Meli said. The students and teachers also enjoy a different relationship than in a traditional school setting. "These are people who want to be there. They want to learn, but they want to have a good time," Meli said. It's just different, much more relaxed." In fact, he said, "I've made a couple of lifelong friends through the classes I've taught."

That's one of the great things about the Learning Connection, Marsello said. It's a great place to meet new people and make friends.

Marsello says the social aspect is important.

"I think one of the key reasons people take our class is to meet other people like themselves," Marsello said. "I really think it's a social activity for a lot of people."

The Learning Connection gives people a safe, fun alternative when it comes to meeting people who share the same interests or desire to learn something new.

It's especially popular among women ages 30 to 60, who make up 75 percent of the registrations, Marsello said. But he also sees it as the senior citizen center of the future.

Marsello said people of his generation are "not going to want to go play bridge." Instead, they'll want to stay active and educated through programs like the Learning Connection. "It's a good, safe place for someone to come out and meet very interesting people, interesting instructors, and have a fun night out," he said.

Meli agreed. "It's a great place to learn and have fun."