PLATO Weekly Update 

August 1, 2023

 
CURRICULUM

PLATO depends on volunteer Course Coordinators to offer courses for our members. Curious about becoming a Course Coordinator? Learn more here. Not ready to host a course, but want to contribute to making PLATO classes successful? Learn More here.

FALL COURSES
MARK YOUR CALENDAR with these important dates:

· Tuesday, August 22: The Fall Course Schedule will be announced and registration opens.

· The Week of September 18: Fall Courses begin.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Monday, September 11, 2023 – Join us in a visit to the beautiful house and grounds of Black Point Estate followed by lunch and exploration in Lake Geneva, WI. A late summer jaunt to one of Wisconsin's historic resort towns, favored by the rich and famous since the late 19th century. Learn more and register here.

BREAKFAST GATHERING
NEXT WEEK! Second Friday Breakfast – We will meet at the Memorial Union Terrace on the UW campus from 10:30am – 12:30pm on August 11. Learn more and RSVP here. 

WALKS
PLEASE NOTE: Registration for walks is required. This allows us to communicate with you if postponements or cancellations occur.

Tuesday, September 12, 2023 – Enjoy a very special walk through Faville Grove Sanctuary near Lake Mills, WI. Registration will open on August 15th. Space is limited and if you are not registered you will not be allowed on the walk. Parking Instructions: We will meet at 8:45am sharp. We will consolidate cars and leave at 9am. Learn more here. 

THE AGORA
A juried literary magazine published by PLATO 
celebrates members’ creativity and diversity of thought.

COMING THIS FALL – The Agora, Volume 8! The Agora Editorial Team is pleased to announce that Volume 8 is in the final stages of production and copies will be mailed this Fall. Please note that members can choose to opt-out of receiving a print copy of The Agora, Volume 8 by visiting their PLATO member profile. If you previously opted-out, your preference will continue to be honored. Please email info@platomadison.org if you have questions about this.

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

SOCIAL JUSTICE EVENTS & READINGS
Select from a range of topics and formats 
for your mid-Summer reading, viewing, or listening, 
curated by PLATO's Diversity Awareness Committee. 

DID YOU KNOW? for August 1 – 14, 2023

Dr. Lonnie Johnson ((born October 6, 1949), a NASA engineer and founder and president of Johnson Research and Development, invented the Super Soaker while working on spacecraft system designs at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “I was working on a new type of heat pump that would use water as a working fluid instead of freon and I was experimenting…and I machined these nozzles and, I’d hook them up to the sink in my bathroom, and I was looking at the stream of water coming out of a nozzle, and I turned and shot the stream across the bathroom, and I thought jeez it would be neat to have a really powerful toy water gun,” explained Dr. Johnson. 

Visit the Social Justice page for more about Dr. Johnson 
or past DID YOU KNOW? features.

DID YOU KNOW? – spotlighting notable historic events and 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).