The Gertrude A. Stewart Charitable Trust
Adult Social Development Program
In conjunction with the Haverford Township Adult School, the Trust sponsors
programs to develop self-confidence and improve social skills. When the program
was first initiated, seven individuals participated; in 1986 there were 22 involved
and in 1994, there were 30 students registered, including many of the seven
original students. The increase in enrollment attests to the success and popularity
of this program, which is conducted personally by Suzanne McDonough-Betz and
Helen Ford Joyce.
Participants attend the class once a week for two ten-week sessions. Based on the
theory of normalization, the class is conducted on Tuesday nights when all other
adult classes occur in the Haverford School District. The charge for each student
is $1 per evening, the charge being less to finance the class than to simply have
something the students are required to remember for each class and handle on
their own.
In addition to the classes they teach themselves, Mrs. Betz and Mrs. Joyce also
invite people from the community to speak. Classes in the past have focused on
music and art appreciation, cooking, money management, safety, first aid, weight
control, personal grooming and interpersonal skills. Other classes have been
spent discussing elections and voting rights and there have been Octoberfest and
Halloween parties. In 1993 they had their first class on the topic of AIDS taught by
a nurse.
