PLATO Weekly Update

May 17, 2022

CURRICULUM

COVID-19 PROTOCOLS FOR COURSES

COVID-19 protocols are specific to each host site. Please see the updated post for Summer courses on the Curriculum Showcase for details or contact your course coordinator.

SUMMER COURSES
Registration continues! Find course lists on the Summer Course Schedule page.

ARTICLE 
Paula McKenzie shares her experience of being a course coordinator in her article, A Coordinator's Perspective, posted in the Curriculum Showcase.

SPECIAL EVENTS

BREAKFAST GATHERINGS
NEW! Friday coffee/breakfasts will move to the UW Memorial Union Terrace starting Friday, June 10. We will meet outdoors, weather permitting. If rain is in the forecast, we will meet indoors at the UW Memorial Union. Look for Sharon in the glassed-in lobby to find out where our tables are located. Our meeting time will continue to be 9:30-11:00 AM. RSVP and learn more here.

FIELD TRIPS  
SPOTS STILL AVAILABLE! Six places remain for our guided tour of the newly-renovated International Crane Foundation Headquarters. After lunch on your own in downtown Wisconsin Dells, we tour the Aldo Leopold Shack and Farm. Review the required COVID-19 Protocols and learn more and register here. 

COVID-19 Protocols for this Field Trip:

· Persons wishing to wear a mask are encouraged to do so.

· Neither site we will visit requires mask wearing.

· Health protocols are subject to change closer to the time of this field trip.

· You are asked to stay home if you are not feeling well. Please contact the trip organizer to inform them of your decision.

LECTURES  
Enjoy archived PLATO Lectures on a range of meaningful topics.

PLATO MEMBERS, 
PLEASE SHARE YOUR STORIES

This is the first in a quarterly series of questions for PLATO members to share their experiences. A selection of responses to this question will be published in the June 14 Weekly Update. We look forward to hearing your story – please submit your answer by Tuesday, May 24 by clicking on the black button below!

PLATO BOARD AMENDS BYLAWS

The PLATO Board recently amended our bylaws. Relatively little is changed in how we actually do governance. Rather the revisions clarify current governance, add language to conform to state law, and give PLATO leaders specific authority to manage affairs after our change in the relationship with the University of Wisconsin. The amendments remove obsolete practices, add those currently used, and clarify ambiguous or inconsistent language. They also reorganize the bylaws so that similar subjects are grouped together and make explicit our standards of good governance. The amended bylaws can be viewed by clicking on the black button below and they can be found on our Organizational Documents webpage, along with other valuable information on PLATO's policies, history, finances, and more.

FEATURED AGORA WORKS

Visit The Agora Features webpage for highlights from this past season, created and curated by fellow PLATO members for your pleasure. 

Our Biweekly Feature for May 17 – May 30 is Yarn Dyers, a painting by Sherry Ackerman, who provides a peek into her artistic process through a brief video. 

SOCIAL JUSTICE EVENTS & READINGS

Select from a range of topics and formats 

for your Spring reading, viewing, or listening, 

curated by PLATO's Diversity Awareness Committee.

DID YOU KNOW? for May 10 – 23, 2022

Did You Know… Victor Jerome Glover (b: April 30, 1976) is a NASA astronaut from the class of 2013 and pilot on the first operational flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon to the International Space Station (ISS). Glover is a commander in the U.S. Navy where he pilots an F/A-18 and is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. He was a crew member of Expedition64 (ISS November 16, 2020 - May 2, 2021), serving as a station systems flight engineer and completing three space walks. 

Visit the Social Justice Webpage for much more about Victor Jerome Glover and past DID YOU KNOW? features.

DID YOU KNOW? – spotlighting notable contributions made by non-mainstream individuals you might not have learned or read about. Suggestions for inclusions are welcome (send to Kathy at: ksmichaelis@gmail.com).