Rappahannock Institute for Lifelong Learning

RILL is an exciting program of the Rappahannock Community College Educational Foundation, Inc. (RCC EFI) that is intended to be a life-enriching learning experience for adults and provides personal enrichment, non-credit classes in a variety of subjects and settings.

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Download the RILL Fall Class Schedule

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Classes offered for Fall 2023

Beginner Pickleball – Warsaw ($35)
Tennis Courts, RCC Warsaw Campus
Instructor: Paul Shrieves
Fridays, September 1, 8, 15, and 22
9 am to 10:30 am

This class fills up quickly and may be full. Please contact Brittany at bjenkins@rappahannock.edu.

This course is designed for the first-time adult player and will cover the basics of Pickleball rules, terminology, primary skills, coordination, beginner court time, and more. Paddles and balls are provided. Class is limited to 12 students.

Paul Shrieves is an avid pickleball player and is excited to promote the sport in the NNK. He has worked in telecommunications for 47 years starting with C&P Telephone and moved to telecommunications manager for a healthcare provider before starting his own company, Communications International. Paul served two years in the military with 13 months overseas.
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Beginner Pickleball – Gloucester ($35)
Newington Baptist Church, Gloucester
Instructor: Carlos Morales
Mondays, September 11, 18, 25, & October 2
1 pm to 2:30 pm

This course is designed for the first-time adult player and will cover the basics of Pickleball rules, terminology, primary skills, coordination, beginner court time, and more. Paddles and balls are provided. Class is limited to 12 students.

Carlos Morales holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Southeastern University in Education and played baseball at the collegiate level. After college, he taught Algebra 1 at the secondary level for 17 years. During that time, he taught and coached several sports at both New Kent and Gloucester High School. Carlos is also an avid tennis player and coached the boys’ tennis team at GHS. After learning to play pickleball several years ago, he became a USA Pickleball Ambassador and Certified Pickleball Coach. He now focuses his free time on promoting the “Fastest Growing Sport in the U.S.” to all levels.
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Intermediate Pickleball – Gloucester ($35)
Newington Baptist Church, Gloucester
Instructor: Carlos Morales
Mondays, October 9, 16, 23, and 30
1 pm to 2:30 pm

This class fills up quickly and may be full. Please contact Brittany at bjenkins@rappahannock.edu.

This course is designed for the adult player who has completed the Beginner Pickleball course. Course emphasis will be on score keeping, improving different strokes with direction to include dink rally, serve/return of serve. Players will work on understanding the fundamentals of the game and proper court positioning and more. Paddles and balls are provided. Class is limited to 12 students.

Carlos Morales holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Southeastern University in Education and played baseball at the collegiate level. After college, he taught Algebra 1 at the secondary level for 17 years. During that time, he taught and coached several sports at both New Kent and Gloucester High School. Carlos is also an avid tennis player and coached the boys’ tennis team at GHS. After learning to play pickleball several years ago, he became a USA Pickleball Ambassador and Certified Pickleball Coach. He now focuses his free time on promoting the “Fastest Growing Sport in the U.S.” to all levels.
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Retirement Planning ($35)--Cancelled
RCC Glenns Campus
Instructor: Laura Bondurant

The first class will review a brief history of Social Security, the importance to senior citizens, those with disabilities, spouses and surviving spouses. Also covered: components that make up the calculation; cost of living adjustments; factors to consider when determining the optimal age to take Social Security; voluntary suspension; taxation; and earning limits. The second class will discuss Medicare and its component parts and Medigap plans, eligibility, when to enroll, how to determine the best path, and how to pay. The last class will cover Medicare Part D and review the best time in life to access Social Security and Medicare benefits.

Laura Bondurant is a Longwood College graduate, a Registered Social Security Analyst Elite from the National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts, and a licensed health and life insurance broker in Virginia.
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Intermediate Pickleball – Warsaw ($35)
Courts, RCC Warsaw Campus
Instructor: Dr. Will Cox
Fridays, September 29, October 6, 13, and 20
9 am to 10:30 am

This class fills up quickly and may be full. Please contact Brittany at bjenkins@rappahannock.edu.

This course is designed for the adult player who has completed the Beginner Pickleball course. Course emphasis will be on score keeping, improving different strokes with direction to include dink rally, serve/return of serve. Players will work on understanding the fundamentals of the game and proper court positioning and more. Paddles and balls are provided. Class is limited to 12 students.

Will Cox, a retired dentist, having practiced for 40 years in Clinton, MD. He resides with his wife, Anna Ruth, in Montross. He has competed in tennis leagues and played racquetball and table tennis all of his adult life. Will has competed in several tournaments. He won a gold medal in the Virginia Classic in Richmond and looks forward to helping others get better at this most enjoyable sport.
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Scourge of the Seas: Pirates in History and Today ($35)
RCC Kilmarnock Center
Instructor: Michael Knapp
Tuesdays, October 3, 10, and 17
1 pm to 3 pm

Students will explore sea pirates in early history and then focus on the “Golden Age of Piracy” (approx. 1650-1730 AD) before discussing the threats they still pose to today’s maritime commerce. The course will cover pirate tactics, weapons, ships, day-to-day life as a pirate, pirate legends and lore, and famous real-life pirates. Students will also discuss women in piracy and government-sponsored pirates (privateers) and will conclude by talking about the most successful pirate of all–not who you think!

Michael Knapp is a retired US Government (civilian) intelligence analyst and retired US Army intelligence officer. He developed and taught six popular history courses for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Virginia for 10 years; was a guest lecturer at multiple US civilian and Department of Defense educational institutions in Virginia, Michigan, New York, and Florida for 15 years; and was an instructor for US Military units deploying to Iraq for over five years. Mr. Knapp’s articles on Islamic extremism and Islam, threat ground forces weapons and tactics, and automated analytical tools have been published in four books and numerous professional journals.
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Landscapes of Literature, Memory, and Aging ($35)
RCC Kilmarnock Center
Instructor: Gail Kenna
Thursdays, October 5, 12, 19, and 26
1 pm to 3 pm

This course will explore literary terrain both old and new. The classes will be comprised of lecture, group discussion, and optional writing. The reading material in prose and poetry will be provided, along with some of the instructor’s published work. Following registration, students will receive a letter with further information about the course.

Gail Wilson Kenna has lived and taught for colleges & universities in five countries, and within the United States. The author of six works, her latest is Tennis Talk of a Nobody, which weaves three sets of narratives about life. Gail has served as the Creative Nonfiction judge for the Soul-Making Keats in San Francisco from 2016 to 2022, prior to the 30-year contest ending this year. Her publications and awards are numerous and include the Donald Axinn Bread Loaf scholarship in fiction. Kenna works as an editor with clients through Crosshill Creek Publications, and also writes a weekly blog about literature.
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Writing Poetry and the Creative Process Using Robert Frost’s Life and Works ($35)
RCC Warsaw Campus
Instructor: Joseph Swonk
Mondays, October 9, 16, and 23
1 pm to 3 pm

This class will focus on Robert Frost’s life and the state of poetry in America during his lifetime. It will also include other poets prominent during that time, as well as a description of how poets write poetry and will close with some thoughts on the creative process.

Joseph Swonk graduated with a major in English from Western Michigan University and completed the coursework for the doctorate at Florida State University. He taught composition and American Literature for 48 years, including at two community colleges, Indian River Community College in Florida and RCC, as well as two four-year colleges, Ferris State College in Michigan and Florida State University.
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Introduction to Windows 11 ($45)
Location: RCC Warsaw Campus
Instructor: Martin Bailey
Fridays, October 13, 20, 27, and November 3
9:30 am to 11:30 am

This course is designed for those who have some experience using a Microsoft Windows PC and desire to become more comfortable using many of its basic features. It will begin with computer operating fundamentals for both hardware and software and provide an overview of the Windows 11 operating system. Students will develop competency in file and folder organization and management, internet and email usage, and management of various file formats. This is a hands-on course allowing the students to work along with the instructor. Computers will be available; however, participants are encouraged to bring their own Windows laptops.

Martin Bailey holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the College of William and Mary and a master’s degree in computer science from Virginia Tech. Before his retirement from the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, he was involved in many aspects of computer work, including programming, algorithm development, database management systems, and computer security.
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The Civil War – The Towles Family: A Microcosm Story of Loss and Remembrance ($35)
RCC Kilmarnock Center
Instructor: Keith Kehlbeck
Mondays, October 30, November 6, and 13
2 pm to 4 pm

This course examines the American Civil War through the prism of a Virginia family that endured personal loss during the war, and who embodied the challenges of post-war reconstruction and remembrance. The course also presents an examination of how Confederate iconography has evolved in the past 50 years, with particular emphasis on the much-discussed Lost Cause of the Confederacy and how monuments and symbols frame that discussion.

Keith Kehlbeck is a writer, historian, and marketing consultant with clients in the hospitality, nonprofit, and publishing sectors. At the age of 10, his family took a trip to Washington, D.C., sparking what would become a life-long interest in the Civil War. There was no turning back; since that trip Keith’s passion for studying the Civil War led him to write the critically acclaimed Gone to God: A Civil War Family’s Ultimate Sacrifice, a nonfiction story told with diaries and letters written by soldiers and their family members.
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When Intelligent People Make Irrational Decisions ($25)
RCC Warsaw Campus
Instructor: Dr. Robert Chapman
Thursdays, November 2 and 9
1 pm to 3 pm

Consider this riddle: A bat and ball cost $1.10. The bat costs $1 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost? If your answer is $0.10, try again. You may want to consider participating in this workshop to explore why…and how you so quickly arrived at an incorrect answer. This two-part workshop will explore the “whys” and “hows” related to our tendency to be irrational in our thinking by considering some of the more common cognitive biases and distortions in our thinking that impact our decision making daily.

Dr. Robert Chapman was Associate Clinical Professor and Associate Director of the Behavioral Health Counseling program (retired) at Drexel University’s College of Nursing and Health Professions. He is a professional counselor specializing in substance use disorders.
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Floral Design ($45 includes some materials)
RCC Warsaw Campus
Instructor: Laura Anne Brooks
Wednesday, November 15
1 pm to 3 pm

This class fills up quickly and may be full. Please contact Brittany at bjenkins@rappahannock.edu.

This hands-on class will look at new ways to decorate for late autumn and the holidays, featuring traditional and contemporary floral design. Table designs as well as single arrangements will be featured.

Laura Anne Brooks is a floral designer in English and French schools as well as New Creative Design and Modern European design. Brooks has taught at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden and lectures for many garden clubs and botanical groups. Her work is frequently seen at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. During COVID, Zoom classes in Ikenobo Ikebana in Kyoto, Japan raised Brooks’ certification to a Level 7 (teacher/demonstrator) while she is soon moving to a level 4 (teacher) in Sogetsu Ikebana.

Register Here!