Programs

Kamloops Adult Learners Society (KALS) is a community of actively engaged learners who are interested in exploring and understanding a broad range of topics, sharing ideas, and meeting others who have similar interests. Classes are usually two hours in length and are single-session or multi-session of two to ten weeks duration.

Membership is required to register. For more information about membership, click here.

How To Register for Courses

On-line by clicking the online registration button:

In person on McArthur Island at 1550 Island Parkway Dr. through-out the semester during office hours Monday-Friday 9am-4pm (Closed from 12pm-1pm). Credit, cash or cheque

Register by Phone by Calling 1-250-376-1525

*Single session courses are non-refundable. Multi session courses are refundable with a $10 cancellation fee.

Defending Canada’s Far North
Cost: $10
Min: 10
Max: 50

Single Session

Multi Session

We are welcoming Denis back to present the government of Canada’s proactive approach to safeguarding Canada’s in the rapidly changing Far North in terms of environmental challenges, geopolitical manoeuvring, indigenous population considerations and military developments.

A zoom class, so you can enjoy the presentation in the comfort of your home or in the company of others at KSC.

Instructor: Denis Thompson

Denis Thompson

Major-General (retired) Denis Thompson served 39 years in the Canadian as an infantry officer deploying at home and abroad in Cyprus, Germany, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Egypt. He was in command of NATO’s Task Force Kandahar (2008/09), Canada’s Special Operations Forces (2011-2017) and the Multinational Force & Observers in the Sinai (2014-2017). Since retirement, Denis has lectured at various Canadian universities, and he is a Senior Mentor and Instructor at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto. He remains engaged in veterans’ charities including the Concussion Legacy Foundation Canada and Aman Lara (resettlement of Afghan interpreters).

Location: Kamloops Sports Council – 1550 Island Parkway Dr.
Dates:
Tuesday April 14, 2026 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Gardengate Tour
Cost: $10
Min: 8
Max: 12

Single Session

Multi Session

Participants in this on-site tour will have an opportunity to explore the grounds of this horticultural garden and learn about Gardengate’s use of sustainable practices for growing. The tour will enhance your understanding of the program, which entails mental health, volunteerism, and food security.  The tour will also include the newer commercial kitchen, which incorporates the Food Hub program. The building also houses existing programming and a wide variety of community groups.

Instructor: Rob Wright

Rob Wright

Rob has worked in the social service field since 1997. During his youth, his family owned a small farm in the Fraser Valley, and generations on both sides of his family have been farmers. Those two parts of his life came together at Open Door Group’s program, Gardengate. Since Rob began working at Gardengate in 2006, he has seen the program undergo huge changes – in the community development work they do, in mental health awareness, and in the construction of their new building. Rob has a passion for growing, and eating, and hopes to ensure others in our community can do the same. He was involved with the Kamloops Food Policy Council as a board member from 2015 to 2021 and remains connected to the community food action programs they currently operate. He hopes to see the next chapter at Gardengate, continue to meet dynamic people through Gardengate’s programming, and see an increase in local, sustainable food production and processing.

Location: Gardengate, 915 Southill St., Kamloops
Dates:
Wednesday April 15, 2026 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Come to the Concert: Infinite Bach
Cost: $10
Min: 8
Max: 35

Single Session

Multi Session

This Come to the Concert’s title, Infinite Bach, may appear exaggeration at first, but isn’t in reality. Composers of all times and traditions have revered Bach’s works and have turned to Bach for melodic inspiration and structural innovation. His musical gifts seem inexhaustible — infinite.  This concert’s ensemble of strings, oboe and bassoon play the music of Canadian composers Mathieu Lussier, and Marjan Mozetich.  The high point of the concert, however, lies in Infinite Bach Recomposed, the work of Norwegian composer Johan Ullén, who reimagines Baroque keyboard and violin concertos of Bach.  This will be an opportunity to consider once more the issue of “recomposition.”

Instructor: Rod Michell

Rod Michell

Rod has a Masters degree in English Language and Literature from Oxford University, and has had a lifelong interest in classical music. In 1970 Rod joined the newly opened Cariboo College as Chair of the English Department and taught for a further 38 years. Retiring in 2008, Rod joined KALS and has taught many multi-session courses on the classics of Western literature, including the Ancient Greek and Roman periods and the Middle Ages. The “Come to the Concert” series grew from Rod’s work writing programme notes for the Kamloops Symphony concerts.

Location: Kelson Hall, 330 St. Paul St.
Dates:
Thursday April 16, 2026 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Findhorn Sanctuary
Cost: $10
Min: 10
Max: 40

Single Session

Multi Session

Machii is eager to share her reflections on the inside of Findhorn Sanctuary, taking us into the planning and poetry behind building an intentional community. From forty pound cabbages, Devas & Elements to co-creation, Machii highlights moments of insight that shine an encouraging light forward in building a community based on love.

Instructor: Michelle McGauchie

Michelle McGauchie

Michelle (Machii) holds a MFA, PG Diploma and an OCAD. As a neurodivergent, Machii takes delight in having her fingers in many pies. Her background includes work as a visual artist, filmmaker, teacher a qualified psychosynthesis therapist. She is also an accredited energy healer, medical intuitive and somatic bodyworker. Although nomadic by nature, Machii has made Kamloops her home. In her years of wandering, she lived for twelve years in the Spiritual Ecovillage of Findhorn in northeast Scotland—revelling in the magic and mischief of nature.

Location: Kamloops Sports Council – 1550 Island Parkway Dr.
Dates:
Friday April 17, 2026 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Why and How to Xeriscape, and What’s in it for You?
Cost: $10
Min: 10
Max: 40

Single Session

Multi Session

We will look at the benefits of reducing, but not eliminating altogether, the amount of water we use in our gardens.  We will also discuss principles and tips for doing this.  In addition, we will look at issues around the use of mulch while considering the FireSmart principles.

Instructor: Fearon Blair

Fearon Blair

Fearon Blair is a Master Gardener with many years of gardening experience. She is very concerned about our changing climate, and especially about keeping our rivers healthy and available to support us as well as all the other living things that depend on the rivers.

Location: Kamloops Sports Council – 1550 Island Parkway Dr.
Dates:
Monday April 20, 2026 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Update on Green Burial and Related topics
Cost: $10
Min: 10
Max: 40

Single Session

Multi Session

The class will offer us an overview of progress being made in green burials, in Kamloops specifically but not exclusively, as well as opening discussion on any of our questions around death and dying, including MAID.

Instructor: Emily Bootle

Emily Bootle

Emily is a licensed funeral director in British Columbia who also shares her death work knowledge with Douglas College End-of-Life Doulas. She has served on the board of the Green Burial Society of Canada between 2019 and 2022. Her areas of expertise include Eco-Conscious DeathCare, Family led Funerals, Supporting Deaths in the Margins and DeathCare for Our Little Ones.

Location: Kamloops Sports Council – 1550 Island Parkway Dr.
Dates:
Tuesday April 21, 2026 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Horticulture Experiences in Kenya and Haiti
Cost: $10
Min: 10
Max: 30

Single Session

Multi Session

In December of 2011, Greg was invited to join a team traveling to Kenya to help survey 4,000 acres for possible community gardens the following January. This opportunity led to many return trips to Kenya (and one trip to Haiti). Greg will share his experiences traveling with teams from Canada to begin construction of the gardens and to teach skills (such as tree climbing with a harness on a rope and working with a chainsaw) over the many trips that continued this work. Come hear stories of the people he has met and his experiences sharing his skills and knowledge building sustainable agricultural gardens and instructing on the pruning and care of tropical trees that provide food and shade. Working with Mully Children’s Family, an orphanage and vocational school located southeast of Nairobi, his goal is to train an instructor who can take over his job.

Instructor: Greg Houghton

Greg Houghton

Greg Houghton is a horticulturist, ISA Certified Arborist, Tree Worker, and qualified Tree Risk Assessor. He recently retired after 19 years with the City of Kamloops as a Municipal Arborist. He now says he is “retreaded” to practise his trade as a self-employed arborist. He has been in the horticulture/arboriculture business for over 40 years and has observed both changes in the landscape of the urban forest. When the opportunity arises, he helps others learn to prune, plant and care for trees. Greg is married, with 4 children and 5 grandchildren.

Location: Kamloops Sports Council – – 1550 Island Parkway Dr.
Dates:
Wednesday April 22, 2026 1:30 am – 3:30 am
Uplifting Ethical and Transformative Uses of AI
Cost: $10
Min: 10
Max: 40

Single Session

Multi Session

In this class, the more uplifting areas of ethical and transformative uses of AI that are emerging, and the factors that shape how they may succeed will be discussed.  Suggestions that were submitted after the last class Shannon taught will be tied in as the basis for this class.

Instructor: Shannon Smryrl

Shannon Smryrl

Shannon Smryl is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of Communication and Visual Arts at TRU. She is curious about how, as communities, we can rethink how we connect online in the interests of the public good.

Location: Kamloops Sports Council – 1550 Island Parkway Dr.
Dates:
Thursday April 23, 2026 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Fibonacci Numbers
Cost: $10
Min: 10
Max: 40

Single Session

Multi Session

Adored by mathematicians, the Fibonacci numbers have surprising connections to many aspects of life, such as music, technology and growth patterns exhibited in nature. Join us for an exploration of how these numbers give rise to beauty and efficiency across many disciplines — no prior knowledge is necessary.

Instructor: Kyle Schlitt

Kyle Schlitt

Kyle Schmitt earned his PhD in mathematics from the University of Alberta in 2017. After teaching Adult Basic Education for two at Camosun College, he returned to central Alberta to spend four year teaching post secondary courses at Red Deer Polytechnic. In 2022, he moved to Kamloops, where he now works as Assistant Teaching Professor at TRU. He enjoys sharing the beauty of mathematics through his teaching and outreach.

Location: Kamloops Sports Council – 1550 Island Parkway Dr.
Dates:
Tuesday April 28, 2026 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Come to the Concert: A walk to Beethoven
Cost: $10
Min: 8
Max: 35

Single Session

Multi Session

The Ode to Joy, the final movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 (1824), is one of the world’s best-known pieces of classical music. Much less well-known, however, is his 1808 Choral Fantasy for piano, mixed chorus and orchestra, which is often seen as an early precursor of his later setting of Schiller’s Ode to Joy. Other works this session of Come to the Concert will examine are A Walk to Beethoven by Swedish composer, Britta Byström, A Guest on these Lands by Canadian composer T. Patrick Carrabré, and the ever-popular Divertissement by Ibert.

Instructor: Rod Michell

Rod Michell

Rod has a Masters degree in English Language and Literature from Oxford University, and has had a lifelong interest in classical music. In 1970 Rod joined the newly opened Cariboo College as Chair of the English Department and taught for a further 38 years. Retiring in 2008, Rod joined KALS and has taught many multi-session courses on the classics of Western literature, including the Ancient Greek and Roman periods and the Middle Ages. The “Come to the Concert” series grew from Rod’s work writing programme notes for the Kamloops Symphony concerts.

Location: Kelson Hall 330 St. Paul St.
Dates:
Thursday April 30, 2026 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
The World’s First Superstar: Sarah Bernhardt
Cost: $10
Min: 10
Max: 50

Single Session

Multi Session

This is the story of the most famous French actress in history. Dismissed by the Comedie-Francaise at the start of her career,  the divine Sarah recovered from the disappointment and went on to attract huge audiences from around the world for decades. She opened her own theatre in Paris, and toward the end of her career, she began appearing in silent movies. Contributing to her fame along with her beautiful voice and poignant emotional portrayals on stage were her scandalous love life, her exotic pets and her penchant for sleeping in a coffin. This is a zoom class; attendees can join from the comfort of their own home or attend in person at the Kamloops Sports Council.

Instructor: Frank Nicholson

Frank Nicholson

Frank Nicholson lives in Toronto where he earned a PhD in British history. Since retiring, he’s been very active in Canada’s later life learning movement, leading 20 peer-learning groups, one in Toronto, the other in Montreal. Frank was an early advocate of using internet videoconferencing to collaborate across provincial and international borders. For the past 6 years, he has mounted a monthly transatlantic public affairs discussion forum with participants from Canada, the UK, US and Ireland. Frank has led many classes for KALS and we are grateful for his generosity. You may watch this zoom class in the comfort of your home or in the company of others in Kamloops Sports Council

Location: Kamloops Sports Council – 1550 Island Parkway Dr.
Dates:
Monday May 4, 2026 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
An Introduction to Birds and Birding
Cost: $10.00
Min: 10
Max: 40

Single Session

Multi Session

What features define birds as a group? Where did birds come from and where are they going? How many species of birds are there—in the world, in Canada, in BC? What characteristics can we use to identify the many types of birds we see around us? What tools can use help us in the quest to know the birds that make the world around us a better place? This course will try and provide the answers!

Instructor: Dr. Nancy Flood

Dr. Nancy Flood

Nancy Flood is currently Teaching Professor Emerita at TRU. Although she came “late” to studying birds, she has done so for more than 45 years in Canada, the US and Mexico, and in diverse habitats including tundra, cloud forest, desert, and grassland. She loves birds! She is President of BC Nature, Past President of the Kamloops Naturalist club, and a member of the Transition Kamloops Core team.

Location: Kamloops Sports Council – 1550 Island Parkway Dr.
Dates:
Tuesday May 5, 2026 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Additional Comments:
Fieldtrip will be two hours on May 6 at 1:30 pm and will cost $5.00.
KALS Winter 2026 Calendar Available on Website – December 19th, 2025 REGISTRATION WILL OPEN – January 5th, 2026 @ 9 am

How To Register for Membership

On-line by clicking the online registration button:

In person on McArthur Island at 1550 Island Parkway Dr. through-out the semester during office hours Monday-Friday 9am-4pm (Closed from 12pm-1pm). Credit, cash or cheque

Register by Phone by Calling 1-250-376-1525