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. 

We thank Rappahannock Westminster-Canterbury for their continued support of the RILL program. Residents pay only $10 per class.

Blue Ridge Bank Golden Advantage members receive a 15% discount on tuition. RCC employees receive a 50% discount.

Fall 2024 Schedule

 Download the RILL Fall 2024 Class Schedule

 Register Here!

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Think Like an Economist ($35)
RCC Warsaw Campus
Instructor: Colin McClung
Mondays, September 9, 16, and 23
10 am to 12 pm

Have you ever wondered what it is like to think like an economist, see the world as they do and unlock some of the mysteries of why things are the way they are? In this introductory course to basic economic understanding, we will explore economic concepts like money, bartering, disparate impact versus disparate treatment, the 80/20 rule, Pareto Efficiency, opportunity cost and zero sum, and Marxism which is popular with professors and the younger generation. Upon registration a list of optional suggested reading materials will be sent.

Colin M. McClung attended RCC in Warsaw in 1987, earned a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies (Religion, Philosophy and Art) from Cal Poly Humboldt and a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Vermont where he studied Ecological Economics and policy analysis. His published. He is a sought-after guest lecturer around the country.

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Beginner Pickleball – Warsaw ($35)
Tennis Courts, RCC Warsaw Campus
Instructor: Paul Shrieves
Wednesdays/Fridays, September 11, 13, 18, and 20
9 am to 10:30 am

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 10 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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One Room Schools in Northumberland County ($35) 
Shiloh School, Holley Graded School, and Julius Rosenwald School
Instructors: Camille Grabb, Garfield Parker, and Marian Veney Ashton
Thursdays, September 12, 19, and 26
2 pm to 4 pm

Northumberland County is home to several historic one-room schoolhouses that educated children before the public school system was established. The Shiloh School educated local white students near Kilmarnock from 1884 to 1929. The Holley Graded School in Lottsburg, founded in 1868 for African-American freed people with assistance from abolitionists. The Julius Rosenwald High School, constructed in the early 1900s, served African American students. This course explores how these schools functioned before public education, and examines their history, preservation efforts, current use, and future plans.

Camille Grabb is a Board Director of Northumberland Preservation, Inc., Garfield Parker is a Board Director and the Director of Affairs and Events at Holley Graded School, and Marian Veney Ashton is a Board Director of The Julius Rosenwald School Foundation of Northumberland County.

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Beginner Pickleball – Gloucester ($35) 
Newington Baptist Church, Gloucester
Instructor: Carlos Morales
Wednesdays/Fridays, September 18, 20, 25, and 27
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 high school Algebra and coached several sports at both New Kent and Gloucester High School, including the boys’ tennis team at GHS. He is a USA Pickleball Ambassador and Certified Pickleball Coach and focuses his free time on promoting the “Fastest Growing Sport in the U.S.” to all levels.

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Rosewell: An Overview and History of Colonial America's Most Magnificent Mansion ($20)
Rosewell Foundation, Gloucester
Instructors: Dr. David Brown and Thane Harpole
Tuesday, September 24
1 pm to 3 pm

Rosewell today stands as one of America’s most important historical sites and is referred to as America’s “Most Magnificent Mansion.” But over a century of its 300-year history has been as a ruin. In 2023, Fairfield Foundation took on the property as one of its five interpretive sites. This course will explore how the Foundation will make the preservation of this ruin sustainable, expand interpretation and access to the site and its amazing collections, and continue research, started by the Rosewell Foundation, into the lives of enslaved persons, and its role as an early laboratory for historical archaeology in America.

Dr. Dave Brown and Mr. Thane Harpole are co-directors of The Fairfield Foundation and co-owners of DATA Investigations LLC, a cultural resource management firm, and founding members of Werowocomoco Research Group.

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Intermediate Pickleball – Warsaw ($35)
Tennis Courts, RCC Warsaw
Instructor: Will Cox
Wednesdays/Fridays, September 25, 27, October 2, and 4
9 am to 10:30 am

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, proper court positioning, and more. Paddles and balls are provided. Class is limited to 10 students.

Will Cox is a retired dentist. He has competed in tennis leagues and played racquetball and table tennis all of his adult life. Will was introduced to Pickleball in 2020 and has been playing steadily ever since. He and his pickleball partner, Bill, have competed in several pickleball 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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The African-American Experience; Antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction ($35)
Location: Rappahannock Westminster-Canterbury, Irvington
Instructor: Keith Kehlbeck
Mondays, September 30, October 7, and 14
2 pm to 4 pm

This course explores the antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction experience of African-Americans. The class will examine the history of abolitionism, secession, the “contraband” status of Blacks, emancipation, U.S. Colored Troops, the 14th amendment, the Freedmen’s Bureau, and Reconstruction. 

Keith Kehlbeck is a writer, historian, and marketing consultant 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. Since then his 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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The Sinking of the Titanic: What Really Happened and Why ($35)
Location: Rappahannock Westminster-Canterbury, Irvington
Instructor: Michael Knapp
Tuesdays, October 1, 8, and 15
10 am to 12 pm

Board the Titanic to experience its fateful maiden voyage in 1912, its collision with an iceberg, and its dramatic sinking in the wintry North Atlantic. We will cover the Edwardian era and Gilded Age as societal contexts for this disaster, follow the ship as it is built in Northern Ireland, and experience the excitement mixed with sadness at the discovery of the wreck in 1985. The course will highlight maritime engineering and materials findings over the last quarter century that explain the structural weaknesses and design faults that led to the ship’s demise. We will also consider the human hubris and errors, along with the unique environmental factors that combined to spell doom for the Titanic and most of its crew and passengers.

Michael Knapp is a retired researcher and intelligence analyst who worked as a civilian and US Army officer for the US Government for 44 years. He has developed and taught several popular history courses for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, and now at the University of William & Mary in Williamsburg, as well as at RCC. His articles on Islamic extremism and Islam have been published in five books and multiple professional journals.

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Metamorphosis: A Contemporary Look at Aging, Maturity, and Personal Growth ($20)
RCC Warsaw Campus
Instructor: Dr. Robert Chapman
Wednesday, October 2
1 pm to 3 pm

Ever meet a true pessimist; someone who, like Eeyore in A. A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh, always appeared to walk under a dark and threatening storm cloud? This workshop, upbeat but realistic, will suggest that life is a journey of discovery where learning and opportunity are always the next stop on your lifelong adventure and look at the process of awakening, viewing life as a journey of discovery. We will discuss steps one can take along the way to facilitate this process as well as allow viewing one’s life as a journey of discovery to savor rather than a simple endpoint to reach. 

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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The Personal Essay ($40)
RCC Kilmarnock Center
Instructor: Gail Kenna
Thursdays, October 3, 10, 17, and 24
1 pm to 3 pm

This course will explore the personal essay as one way to make sense of life. Historically, Seneca (A.D. 3-65) in Rome and Michel de Montaigne in France (1533-1592) wrote personal essays that speak to modern readers. In earlier decades, USA students were directed to write essays and not use “I.” Yet the essence of the personal essay is a voice that declares, “I am.” In this course students will read essays and have the option to write one, with free editing and advice from the instructor. 

Gail Wilson Kenna has lived and taught for colleges and universities in five countries, and the United States. Her publications and awards are numerous and include the Donald Axinn Bread Loaf scholarship in fiction.

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Intermediate Pickleball – Gloucester ($35) 
Newington Baptist Church, Gloucester
Instructor: Carlos Morales
Tuesdays/Wednesdays, October 22, 23, 29, and 30
1 pm to 2:30 pm

This course is designed for the adult player who has completed the Beginner Pickleball course or has been playing pickleball for at least three months. 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 high school Algebra and coached several sports at both New Kent and Gloucester High School, including the boys’ tennis team at GHS. He is a USA Pickleball Ambassador and Certified Pickleball Coach and focuses his free time on promoting the “Fastest Growing Sport in the U.S.” to all levels.
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Survey of American Literature ($45)
RCC Warsaw Campus
Instructor: Joseph Swonk
Mondays, November 4, 11, 18, and 25
1 pm to 3 pm

The course will examine and discuss various works from major American authors from1600 to the 20th
Century with appropriate historical, psychological, and theological background information. Reading
samples will be provided with a follow-up discussion. Authors will be chosen from each time period,
including: the Puritans, Thomas Jefferson, Edgar Allen Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ernest Hemingway,
William Faulkner and many others.

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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Microsoft Word: Tips for Productive Usage ($45)
RCC Warsaw Campus
Instructor: Martin Bailey
Tuesday, November 5, 12, 19, and 26
1 pm to 3 pm

This course will cover elements of Microsoft Word, including the backstage view option; adding page numbers, headers and footers; fixing spelling and grammar mistakes. Advanced features like adding a ruler and using it to control the formatting of a document, inserting tables, setting tab stops, changing the shape size and color of text and inserting and formatting pictures will also be covered. The course will use Microsoft Word 2019, but the features covered are available in older and newer versions. Students should have basic experience using Word.

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 computer programming, algorithm development, database management systems, and computer security.

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Technology and Land Use Planning ($35)
RCC Warsaw Campus or Zoom
Instructor: Dr. Michael Evans
Wednesdays, November 6, 13, and 20
2 pm to 4 pm

Over three sessions, this class will discuss the latest technologies that inform property owners, local government, and industry on optimal places to site solar farms; how that technology has been used for other land use planning projects; and how the technology informs the creation of policy that helps protect the Chesapeake Bay’s resources while encouraging use of alternative forms of energy.

Dr. Michael Evans is the Senior Data Scientist at the Conservation Innovation Center. He leads projects that integrate geospatial and remote sensing data with deep-learning and statistical models to improve conservation policy and practice. He holds a doctoral degree in Natural Resources Management from the University of Connecticut, and his previous research focused on understanding interactions between wildlife and the built environment.

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Register Here!