Bridging Gap : SEASONS classroom volunteer program allows ‘children to connect with past generations and their experience.’

It’s not part of his job description. But every June for the past few years Dr. James F. Cowan, Ventura County superintendent of schools, has traded his suit coat for an apron.

Cowan becomes a burger-flipping chef at a barbecue to honor volunteers from SEASONS (Senior Experts And Speakers On Numerous Subjects).

He said the SEASONS program is outstanding because it allows people with a wide range of expertise to visit classrooms.

“The students really enjoy hearing people with firsthand experience,” Cowan said.

Cynthia Morgan, SEASONS coordinator and third-grade teacher at Kamala Elementary School in Oxnard, said the program is a free service to schools and service groups.

Established in 1979, the program is funded by a grant from the California State Department of Education, which allows volunteers to be reimbursed for travel.

“What’s exciting is the way SEASONS brings together seniors with young people,” Morgan said. “Since the community does not have many extended families, it’s a way for children to connect with past generations and their experience.”

Teachers pick from nearly 100 presentations from about 40 SEASONS volunteers on art and music, careers, history, language arts, science, self-esteem, social science, space and travel.

Some, such as Bill Coleman, 69, of Ventura, speak on several topics. The retired state park ranger’s most popular presentation, “Monarch Mosaic,” combines a lecture about the butterfly and a hands-on art project.

Marcel Lerner addresses older students on salesmanship, Shakespeare or the heroes of the Holocaust.

Robert and Elaine Vanderhaven have produced a 20-minute film depicting the Yosemite Valley. It is accompanied by narration taken from naturalist John Muir’s journals, “My First Summer in the Sierras,” written about 100 years ago.

Helena Keefe helps increase children’s awareness through her talk, “Understanding the Handicapped.”

And her husband, Bernard, uses his skills as an inventor, physicist and mathematician.

The Keefes live in Santa Paula, but most SEASONS volunteers live in Camarillo’s Leisure Village, where the program was established by Rube Davis, 84.

Originally called Leisure Village Senior Speakers Bureau, the group became a model program for the state, Davis said.

Morgan received a call asking about the program last week from the National Retired Teachers Assn. in Washington, D.C.

All members of SEASONS are not public speakers. Some volunteers also serve as judges for school speech contests and science fairs. And at monthly meetings at Leisure Village, members listen and provide constructive criticism to SEASONS speakers. But Davis said more speakers are needed to serve the entire county since it is difficult for many seniors to travel far from home.

“There’s such a great need, and there’s so much talent in the senior population residing in Ventura County,” Davis said. “We must help, because our future is our young people.”

TAX POSTPONEMENT: If you will be age 62 or older by Dec. 31, 1992, and are blind or disabled, you may be eligible for California Renter or Homeowner Assistance and Property Tax Postponement.

You must have owned or occupied your home or mobile home since Dec. 31, 1990, and your income must have been less than $24,000 last year.

To determine if you qualify for this program, call 800-952-5661. Claims must be filed by Dec. 10. Free help in preparing claim forms is available from trained volunteers by calling your local senior center.

* FYI

SEASONS coordinator Cynthia Morgan will address service groups to explain the program. Requests for a speaker should be made at least two weeks in advance. To become a SEASONS volunteer, obtain a list of topics or to request a speaker, write to the Ventura County Superintendent of Schools, 570 Airport Way, Camarillo, Calif., 93010 or call (805) 388-4410.