I'm So Bad!

I'm a bad blogger... I know. The semester has really moved quickly for us here at Communiversity! We had another really really successful Wholistic Health Fair with over 60 vendors. We also raised over $3,400 to help keep our doors open! We cannot thank those of you who volunteered your time and donated services &/or products! If you are interested in having a booth at our Spring Wholistic Health Fair which is scheduled for Sunday, March 16th call us ASAP. If you mention this blog, you'll get $10 off! Here are some fun pics from this semester's health fair:

Haunted Independence!

April and I (Layna) went to the Haunted Independence Class this past Friday and holy moly was it creepy! Here's some pictures from our frightening night!

Soooo Excited!

We are restless in the office today because two of us, April and I, are going to take the Haunted Independence Class and we are pumped up! I am a big fan of the Sci Fi show Ghost Hunters and that is kind of what this class is all about. From what I can tell, we will will be touring supposedly haunted places in Independence while using various tools for detecting the paranormal. Talk about getting in the mood for Halloween!



Pictures to follow!

Sorry We've Been Gone!

Hi Y'all! We sure have been busy! Can you believe it's already the end of September? With that being said, we have some AWESOME classes for Halloween!

Want to see some truly haunted places? Check out our Haunted Independence every Friday in October. www.umkc.edu/commu

Our Wholistic Health Fair is just around the corner!

W

Wholistic Health Fair

Fall 2007 November 4, 2007 11AM-6PM

Pierson Auditorium, University Center, UMKC Campus 5100 Holmes, KCMOReserve a Booth by July 20th and pay only $90, you will get a free listing of your booth in the Fall 2007 Catalog. After that it's $110.
Read the Exhibitor Newsletter in PDF format.
Here is a map of Pierson Auditorium to show you how the booths will be set up. Choose a booth number before filling out the Booth Application Form.
Online Forms: Booth Application FormSpeaker Application Form

Dear Wholistic Health Enthusiast,
Brace yourself, Communiversity is proud to announce our ninth Wholistic Health Fair, scheduled for Sunday, November 4, 2007 from 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM, at the UMKC University Center, Pierson Auditorium, 5100 Holmes, KCMO.
For the last 8 years many new health and therapeutic professionals from in and around the Kansas City area got together to share ideas and techniques with each other and with the public.

Our Wholistic Health Fair will demonstrate and teach a variety of techniques for staying healthy and maintaining vitality and youthfulness. You can make valuable connections with other practitioners while attendees sample from a variety of health education and techniques.

Sign Up Party for Communiversity

Hi, my name is Communiveristy and I like to party! Not a lot going on today, but I did want to tell you all about our Semiannual Sign Up Party.

Tuesday, September 11th
6:00-8:00 PM
The Writers Place 3607 Pennsylvania Kansas City, MO

There will be live music, free food, dancing monkeys, and purple elephants! You wouldn’t want to miss that now would ya?

Oh, and if you sign up for any classes at the nifty Sign Up Party, your $2 registration fee is waived as well as $1 off your first class and $2 off any classes after that! Oh Snap!

Halloween in Kansas City

Can you believe Halloween is just around the corner?! I have lived all over the country and I've never seen a city get more into Halloween than Kansas City. Communiversity is no exception to the rule either! Here are some of the Halloween classes we are offering this fall:

#1020A Lampwork--Glass Bead Making Halloween Sculptural Beads

Learn to make sculptural beads for Halloween, i.e. ghosts, witches hats, pumpkins, candy corns. This is an advanced beginner’s class, so some previous glass and torch experience is needed. Bring $80 for materials. Denise has been a bead maker for over 7 years; she has taken many lampwork classes over the years from many of the best artists giving classes. She is a member of "GABS" the Glass Artisan Bead Society of Greater Kansas City. Age limit, 14 and older. 2nd class is Basic Stringing.

Convener: Denise Solary

Class Fee: $14

Number of Sessions: 2 Meets: 9/29/2007; 1:00:00 PM - 5:00:00 PM

Three Trails Trading Post11020 Winner Rd., Independence, MOI-435 to the 23rd St. exit (toward Independence) East to Sterling. Left (north) to Winner Rd., turn Left 1 1/2 blocks on the rightNotes:

Second session meets Tues Oct, 2nd from 6:30p-8:30pLimit: 6

#1027A The Art of Hardcore Halloween Decorating

Admit it you love Halloween, you dress up for the Trick-or-Treaters, you comb every store in cool Halloween décor, and your friends think your obsession is a little weird. You, my friend, have the heart of a "home haunter" and this class is for you! Learn how to build (and animate) your own life-size Halloween props. Discover many resources for a great Halloween display that you didn’t even knew existed. Walk through a "yard haunt" that last year drew more than 400 neighbors to a single home!

Convener: John January

Class Fee: $9Number of Sessions: 1 Meets: 10/10/2007; 7:00:00 PM - 8:00:00PM

633 W. 61st (in Brookside), KCMOLimit: 20

#6313A Haunted Independence

This class will be held in a REAL haunted building on the Independence Square !A power point presentation will be given on real haunted locations in Independence , MO with Margie Kay, director of the QUEST Investigation Group. Margie will discuss how to see ghosts, and what equipment to use in ghost hunting. Please bring $10 to class for materials.

Convener: Margie Padgitt

Class Fee: $9

Number of Sessions: 1Meets: 10/5/2007; 8:00:00 PM - 9:00:00 PM

Victoria's Bridal and Costume230 W Maple Ave Independence, MOLimit: 25

Communiversity Catalog Drive '07

I came in this morning all ready to do the normal things that I do such as, checking emails, calling conveners and most importantly BLOGGING! To my surprise, though, upon walking in Rick (our fearless leader) informed me that I needed to go home, change out of my flip flops and aid him in his delivery of over 8000 Communiversity Catalogs!

I'm going on a field trip! For fun things to do in Kansas City, pick up our new Fall Catalog at most public libraries and lots of random places around town!

Fall Semester '07 at UMKC

Well folks, it's that time of year again... the birds are chirping, its as hot as a sun-of-a-gun outside and the Fall Semester at UMKC is nipping at our heels. As a student and a work study of UMKC, I would be remiss if I said that I wasn't "excited" for this new semester, right?

One thing I can honestly say that I'm excited about is all of the new and exciting classes we are offering this fall at Communiversity! We have great new art classes that range from "The Business of Art" to "The Art of Photoshop" and everything in between.

Are you interested in The Kansas City Roller Derby? Well, the the KC Roller Warriors, KC's own female roller derby team, has been gracious enough to offer a Communiversity Class.

Are you a Halloween fanatic? We have two great new classes that deal with building your own haunted house as well as touring haunted buildings in Independence.

Our new fall catalog (full of our own blood, sweat and tears!) should be out in the next couple of weeks.

Communiversity: Giving you things to do in Kansas City for over 30 years!

Communiversity Fall Catalog!

Have you missed me? Holy Crap we have been working like crazy on our Fall '07 catalog here at Communiversity. As the new girl, it has been especially stressful, but rewarding, to see it all start to come together. Are you interested in getting a bright, new shiny Communiversity Fall '07 catalog in your mailbox? Then call or email us with your address commu@umkc.edu

Rock on!

Lady Tenderheart's School of Magic!

I had the opportunity to go and see a Communiversity Class that was held by Kim Oursler and it was a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e! Not to mention fun! The kids got to dress up and learn all about the spirits of the earth. One of my favorite parts was when the kids were asked to call forth the creatures of the earth and some of the responses ranged from "pirates" to " a unicorn with it's mane on fire"!!!

Kim has been great enough to agree to hold the class again for fall, so be on the look out for that. Here are some of the pictures I took.

Activities in Kansas City

Holy Mother! This blogging thing is working! While blogging can be therapeutic to me, I would ultimately like it to be beneficial to Communiversity and it looks like it just might be. Today, I typed in the phrase "stuff to do in Kansas City" into the almighty Google and low and behold.... guess who's number 1? Alright, enough patting myself on the back... onto more important things.

Activities in Kansas City in the next couple of days...

I am personally stoked about the Lady Tenderheart’s School of Magic for Little Witches: Fairy Magic class that is happening tomorrow. One, because it sounds adorable and two, because I'm personally going to go to take pictures! So look for those in the next couple of days. Here's the description of the class:

Fairies delight and entice us with their mysterious ways and magical play. We will dress like the fairies with wings, glitter, and pretty things, learn a little about the World of Fairy, and create an altar for the fairies to invite them in to our homes. This class is for children ages 3 to 10 years. Please bring $5 for materials to class.

How fun is that!

Just Another Manic Monday

Are you humming the ever popular 80's tune? Well, it is a Manic Monday here in the office of Communiversity and there's no time for humming! Our deadline for our fall catalog is quickly approaching (Like this Friday) and we are desperately seeking (Susan- J/K. Another 80's thing) new classes and new volunteer teachers. Our goal is to always stay abreast of what you want to do and see as far as things to do in Kansas City.

One of the hardest and most frustrating parts of our jobs is finding people who sincerely want to serve the community. All of our teachers/conveners are volunteers- they do not get paid. That's a hard pill for some people to swallow now-a-days. "What? I have to give up a couple of hours of my time and not get paid?" Its like we're asking for a kidney! Here are some of the perks to joining the Communiversity Family and teaching classes:

Getting to meet people with similar interests
Developing/working on your public speaking skills
Looks great on a resume
Increases public awareness of your skills and expertise
Helping People in Kansas City
Giving Back
Saving the World one life at a time
Must I go on?

So call us at 816-235-1448 or email us at commu@umkc.edu or visit our website for more info!

Singles in Kansas City

I am not single anymore, but when I was single I found it extremely difficult to meet quality members of the opposite sex. By quality, I mean don't live at home with their parents, have a job and aren't complete tools. Call me crazy, but being single in Kansas City (or any where for that matter!) can be a big old pain in the neck.

Here at Communiversity, we want to help you singles out there! But in order to help you, you must help us! Here in the office we've been kicking around different ideas about how to develop more classes for singles. We thought about trying to find someone to teach a class on the ins and outs and safety tips for Online Dating. Also, what are some things for singles to do in Kansas City? Are there mixers going on around town? What about a class on speed dating in Kansas City?

If you have any great ideas for us or can point us in the right direction that would be great! Call us at 816-235-1448 or visit our website at www.umkc.edu/commu. Have a great weekend!!!!!

Crochet in Kansas City

I am not very domestic. Meaning: I can't really cook all that well (save my meatloaf and grilled chicken). I don't sew. I'm kinda clean, but not really. I'm sure that you get the point. How great would it be though, to learn how to crochet! Kansas City can get kinda cold in the winters and new clothes are expensive, so why not make your own?

Communiversity's upcoming "Learn to Crochet" class could help you do just that. Here are the pertinent details. Call 813-235-1448 or log onto www.umkc.edu/commu to register.

Learn to Crochet

Cozy up with a crochet hook and some yarn and learn all the basic stitches: chain, single, double and treble. From there you can make afghans, scarves, hats, dresses, baby clothes, purses, decorations, boxes, or whatever you can imagine. Bring your own supplies or buy them at class. Nirmal has been crocheting ever since her grandmother taught her how at the age of seven.Convener: Nirmal Kaur Khalsa Class Fee: $14

New Class Ideas in Kansas City!

We are all running around like chicken with our heads cut off around here trying to not only come up with new class ideas, but also to find people to teach those classes. People may not realize that here at Communiversity classes don't just appear out of thin air! There is a lot of work that goes into developing new class ideas and making sure that the enrollment for those new classes is as high as it can be.

One of our main goals here at Communiversity is to always be evolving and staying with the times. So here are some of our ideas to appeal to a new generation of Communiversity participants: (Classes on or about...)

On-line dating
Basic Fashion
Bartending 101
Make-up Classes
All kinds of new Yoga and Pilate's
How to Read Financial Statements

If you have any ideas for stuff/things to do Kansas City, please visit our website at www.umkc.edu/commu or email us at commu@umkc.edu

Peace Out!

What is Doga?

Some of you may have read the article in The Pitch a few weeks ago about our Doga Class- Yoga with your dog. What a great idea. Even though I personally don't own a dog at the moment (call me crazy, but planning a wedding, going to school and working doesn't leave a lot of spare time) , if I did, I would definitely take a Doga Class with my little pooch!

This class has been one of our most popular classes in Communiversity History! Even though we're all booked up for Summer, keep an eye out for Doga with Communiversity in the Fall. Here's a full description:

Learn to relax with your dog! This workshop will give you some techniques to help calm your canine companion, teach him about balance, and build a better bond with you. Meditation (deep breathing), and TTouch (gentle body work and focused movement) are incorporated in with the Doga (yoga posturing). Come and learn to unwind and connect with your four-legged friend. I am an animal behavior and wellness practitioner certified in Tellington TTouch, Reiki, and Dog Training (CPDT). I am a member of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants and Animal Wellness Association. I have worked with a variety of animals and unique cases. Space provided by Pet Connection. Bring $7 for materials and room rental.Convener: Pat Hennessy

Stuff to do in Kansas City

Our beloved leader and boss, Rick, is back from vacation, but he has a headache... he wanted me to put that in here. Speaking of headaches... are you looking for stuff to do in Kansas City? What about taking a Communiversity Class!!!!





Tomorrow we have a great class on meditation, taught by Carol Meyer and then we have another one on Thursday being held by John Flaherty. Here are the class descriptions:

Peace Within: Learning to Meditate

Don't be put off by thinking that meditation is not for you because you can't still your mind. It's easy and enjoyable and produces many benefits: less stress, better health, more wisdom and guidance, feelings of joy and connection, inner strength and more. I will teach you all you need to know to do it successfully, whether for spiritual purposes or simply for relaxation. Carol Meyer, MA in Theology, is a spiritual teacher and counselor with a passion for meditation and sharing this gift with all. Please bring $3 to class for materials.Convener: Carol Meyer



Insight Meditation

Theravada Buddhism is the oldest and most accessible of the three schools of Buddhism. Learn the philosophy and meditation techniques of this ancient path to liberation. We can learn to respond skillfully to the inevitable pain of human life. Conveners have studied and practiced for over 15 years.Convener: John Flaherty

The Pitch & Communiversity

Sooooo, I thought that my 5 hours on end of submitting Communiversity Classes to the Pitch Calendar just might have been in vain, but I was happy to be proved wrong yesterday when we got a call from the Calendar editor. She was super nice and told me that they had already not only entered our classes into their calendar, but had also already written two feature articles about some of our classes. Awesome!!!

Not only can you do an online class search at our website but now you can see us in the Pitch as well. Man, it kind of feels like we're dating!!!

Stuff to Do in Kansas City July 7th!!!

Holy Moly! We have a lot going on with Communiversity this weekend!

Here are some of the classes we are offering this weekend:

#1018A Knotting Between Beads

Knotting between beads can insure longer life for your beaded jewelry. Learn the art of knot tying between beads and to repair and restring existing items. Go home with a finished item. Tools will be furnished and for sale. Bring $15 to class for supplies.Convener: Juanita Collins Class Fee: $9Number of Sessions: 1Meets: 7/7/2007; 10:30:00 AM - 12:30:00 PMNortheast Library, Commons Area6000 Wilson Rd., KCMOLimit: 6

#4302B Falun Dafa

After a brief introduction of Falun Dafa you will learn 5 sets of exercises.Convener: Brian J. Kuang Class Fee: $9Number of Sessions: 1Meets: 7/7/2007; 1:00:00 PM - 3:00:00 PMWestport Roanoke Community Center3601 Roanoke, KCMOWest on 39th Street, Roanoke is 1 light past SW Trafficway, take a right on Roanoke, go 3 blocks, after 2 blocks road turns to brick, Community Center is on the rightLimit: 20

#6306A Stones & Other Oracles

Among the most ancient arts, the reading of oracles has always held a fashion for men. Learn to tap the awareness of your inner mind and the universe. Choosing stones will be covered as well as actual practice in the techniques of reading them. Tape are recorders welcome. Bring $2 material fee to class.Convener: Michael White Class Fee: $9Number of Sessions: 1Meets: 7/7/2007; 2:00:00 PM - 4:00:00 PMWhite, J701 Pawnee Ln., Belton, MO30 minutes from midtown KC or Overland ParkLimit: 15

#7104B Introduction to Horsemanship

Always wanted to learn to ride? Learn about the safe handling of the horse covering grooming, saddling, history and behavior. This is not a trail ride! You will actually learn something about horses in this fun-filled class, located on 300 acres north of the river. Ages 5 years and up, welcome. Participants will be eligible to sign up for additional riding lessons, separate from Communiversity. Call Communiversity for a map to the farm. Please bring carrots for the horses and $15 to class for horse and equipment rental and refreshments. Jeri has an Animal Science and Veterinary Industry degree and has taught horsemanship for over 20 years.Convener: Jeri Lee Yagello Class Fee: $9Number of Sessions: 1Meets: 7/7/2007; 1:00:00 PM - 3:00:00 PMWind in the Willows Farmnear KCI Airport (contact Communiversity for map), KCMOLimit: 15

#4001A Kundalini Yoga for all Levels

It has been said that yoga enhances spiritual awareness and understanding as well as physical performance. Come join us and learn techniques of breath control, physical exercises, as well as mental focusing and meditation. Be sure to wear comfortable clothes. This is a yoga class you can do!Convener: The Yoga ManClass Fee: $9Number of Sessions: 1Meets: 7/7/2007; 1:30:00 PM - 3:00:00 PMWestport Roanoke Community Center3601 Roanoke, KCMOWest on 39th Street, Roanoke is 1 light past SW Trafficway, take a right on Roanoke, go 3 blocks, after 2 blocks road turns to brick, Community Center is on the rightLimit: 20

So, if you are interested in taking any of the classes, you'd better hurry up and call us at 813-235-1448. I (Layna) won't be in here tomorrow, but April or Julie could set you up.

Communiversity... making dreams come true. Well, maybe not, but at least we're giving you something to do in Kansas City!

Baby's First Blog!

Welcome to the very first post for Communiversity and our brand new Blog!!! What the "h" is Communiversity, you may be asking yourself... and we would be happy to tell you!

Communiversity is a branch of the University of Missouri Kansas City. We are a nonforprofit organization that is dedicated to creating a "Free University." Okay, so what does that mean?

Let me put it like this: Have you ever wanted to learn how to Hula Hoop with the best of them? What about improving your Mexican cooking skills? Want a better a understanding of Mutual Funds and Financial Statements? Then, come one and come all to Communiversity!!!! And trust me, the list goes on and on!!!

My name is Layna (That's me on the left, with my fiance Joel- so back off, I'm taken). I'm the new Work Study, a.k.a., "low woman on the totem pole" here for Communiversity and I will do my best everyday to write a little about some of the classes we offer for free to UMKC students and for a nominal fee for members of the community, because I'm sick and tired of people saying, "There is nothing to do in Kansas City!" You could fill up a summer with stuff to do just by picking up a Communiversity Catalog or going to our website! Ta Ta for now!