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
Multi Session
A Jukebox Musical takes pop hits and places them in a musical theatre production. Some like “Mamma Mia” place the songs of a particular artist or songwriter or musical genre into an original story, while others, like “Jersey Boys”, are known as Bio Musicals, and centre on the life and career of a particular artist. We will explore both types and listen to lots of music from the most popular that have appeared on Broadway and beyond: “Mamma Mia”, “Movin’ Out”, “Rock of Ages”, “Bat Out of Hell”, “We Will Rock You”, “Jagged Little Pill and Juliet”, “Jersey Boys”, “Tina”, “The Cher Show”, and so many more
Julie Simmons
Julie has a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Bachelor of Education degree from Memorial University in Newfoundland. Her passions in life (besides her husband Rodney) include musical theatre, Disney and Christmas. Since 2017, she has been host of the CFBX radio show, On the Marquee, which has been syndicated across Canada. Julie published her first novel, “That’s How You Know,” in 2023
Thursday November 13, 2025 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Thursday November 20, 2025 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Single Session
Multi Session
My wife, Mary, and I travelled to Ecuador and Peru in April of this year. The Galapagos Islands and the Amazon were both key destinations on our bucket list, and we combined them in a 4 week trip. This presentation will provide a brief overview of Ecuador and Peru together with a more detailed description of the wonders of the Galapagos and the Amazon. Both destinations should be on your bucket list!
Mike Baker
Mike is a retired engineer and has worked in several different countries including Kenya, Turkey and Sri Lanka. He has lived in Kamloops for almost 25 years. Travel is an important part of his retirement and Mike and his wife, Mary, continue to enjoy independent travel, getting to know the destination and the people as much as possible. You may also know Mike as the Treasurer for KALS, a role he has filled since 2022.
Thursday November 13, 2025 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Single Session
Multi Session
This class, the second in the Come to the Concert series, focuses on just two composers and two of their influential works. At the same time, it is an opportunity to examine two significant movements in classical music of the last seventy-five years. “Shaker Loops” by John Adams, begun as early as 1977, will invite us to explore “minimalist” elements in music. Likewise, Max Richter’s “Four Seasons” (2012) will provoke discussion of “recomposition” or “re-processing” of music — a controversial but not exactly a new idea. Our encounter with these works will help familiarize us not only with the individual compositions themselves but with stylistic evolution of contemporary classical music.
Rod Michell
Rod holds a Master’s degree in English literature from Oxford University. Now retired, Rod taught for 38 years at TRU, and prior to that, several years at Selkirk and UBC. Rod has been teaching for KALS for 18 years and taught at least one and often two courses in every semester.
Friday November 14, 2025 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Single Session
Multi Session
Greg will relate his experience as a Paralympic two time gold medal holder: how he became a champion para athlete in shot put and the emotional impact of such stellar performances. Greg will then go on to discuss his philosophy, “turn your self-doubt into self-confidence,” which underpins his book, “Stand Out”.
Greg Stewart
Greg Stewart is a Canadian para athlete who specializes in shot put. He represented Canada in the 2020 and 2024 Summer Paralympics where he won gold in both. Greg is now retired from competitive sport, but is still an advocate for high performance athletes and is on the board of directors for Athletics Canada and for Athletes CAN. He owns and works for his company in the automotive recycling business.
Friday November 14, 2025 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Single Session
Multi Session
The Thompson-Nicola Regional Library has served the lifelong learning, reading and information needs of TNRD residents for almost 50 years now. How can it serve you?
Of course, you know that you can borrow books, CDs, and DVDs, but did you also know that, should need arise, you can borrow a guitar, a budding birder backpack replete with Vortex binoculars, a light therapy lamp, even a pickleball kit among many other surprising resources. Is your “tech” misbehaving? Schedule a free one-on-one session to help get things sorted out. To discover more broadly what your library has to offer, join Andree for an afternoon of library exploration.
Andrée Beauchemin
Andrée Beauchemin has been working at the Kamloops Library since 1992. She began working at the library while attending University where she double majored in English and Psychology. During these studies, she realized that her interest in literature and people was perfectly represented in the public library setting. She continued her studies in library science, and worked in many areas of the library. She particularly enjoyed working as the Readers’ Advisor managing the fiction collection at the Kamloops branch. Andrée currently works as a Library Assistant at the Kamloops branch. This role includes children’s programming, adult programming, teaching use of Technology as well as reference work.
Monday November 17, 2025 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Single Session
Multi Session
Dear Universe traces a line through two decades of practice by multidimensional artist Maura Doyle. Tethering together the exhibition’s works of sculpture, drawing, printed matter, video and experimental writing is Doyle’s attention to the inelegant, the easily overlooked, and the poetic possibilities lodged in day-to-day life.
Kristen Gardner
Kristen Gardner is the interim Education and Public Programs Director for the Kamloops Art Gallery. Prior to this role, she served as the School and Youth Programs Coordinator for over three years. Kristen holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from TRU (2022) and a Diploma in Digital Art and New Media from Selkirk College (2017). Passionate about arts education, she believes in the power of art to build meaningful connections and create transformative spaces for learning and engagement.
Tuesday November 18, 2025 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Single Session
Multi Session
Water, in its three forms, liquid, vapour and ice, is a major and essential part of our lives and environment. This talk will describe the many characteristics, properties and effects of water in these three forms, looking at aspects of Physics, Chemistry, Geology, Biology, Meteorology, Physiology, Societal demands, Hydrology and many associated phenomena and the effects on our lives.
Dave McKinnon
Dr. McKinnon holds B.Sc. (Hons.) (1960) and Ph.D. (1963) degrees in Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. From 1965-2001, he was a faculty member in the Chemistry Department at the University of Manitoba. He maintained an active research program and authored or coauthored 74 refereed papers, two reviews and three book chapters, and presented papers at international conferences. He has taught courses, mainly Organic Chemistry, at all university levels and received the Stanton Teaching Award from the University of Manitoba in 1995. He has a continuing interest in scientific education and a wide range of hobbies, including travel, playing the clarinet, woodworking and genealogy.
Thursday November 20, 2025 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Single Session
Multi Session
The enthusiasm of small groups of musicians, gathered to play their different wind instruments for eager audiences must surely be as old as the invention of the instruments themselves. This class, the third in this Fall’s Come to the Concert series examines the interplay of music created for one such group, a quintet consisting of flute, oboe, clarinet bassoon and horn, the standard “wind quintet.” The concert’s title, “Winds of Change,” suggests aspects of the of the music’s qualities: chiefly contemporary composers: Canadian (Elizabeth Raum), American (Brandon, Fine, and Coleman) and British (Alan Bullard), but with great variety, rhythmic vitality, lyrical depth and charm.
Rod Michell
Rod holds a Master’s degree in English literature from Oxford University. Now retired, Rod taught for 38 years at TRU, and prior to that, several years at Selkirk and UBC. Rod has been teaching for KALS for 18 years and taught at least one and often two courses in every semester.
Friday November 21, 2025 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Single Session
Multi Session
In this talk, we’ll explore the complex and evolving process of wildfire recovery through the lens of social-ecological systems. From the urgent steps of bringing communities home and coordinating salvage logging and replanting, to the unexpected consequences of the emergence of morel mushrooms and the influx of harvesters they attract, wildfire recovery reveals a complex web of both opportunities and challenges. The morel boom can create sudden economic activity, but it also brings environmental pressures and social tensions. We’ll also explore the long-term healing between communities and the land, and how these relationships must adapt in the face of an ever-changing climate.
Tori Verkaik
Tori Verkaik is a Registered Professional Forester and Forest Stewardship Specialist with the Ministry of Forests. She holds a bachelor’s degree from UBC and a master’s in Disaster and Emergency Management from Royal Roads University, with a focus on community-driven wildfire recovery. Tori previously worked as a Restoration Forester with Skeetchestn Natural Resources, where she led post-wildfire recovery projects, including a culturally significant planting program in the Elephant Hill Fire zone and a multi-disciplinary watershed rehabilitation effort following the 2021 Sparks Lake Fire. She also co-developed the innovative Morel Mushroom Program in partnership with the Skeetchestn Indian Band. Her work reflects a deep commitment to ecological restoration, Indigenous collaboration, and innovative disaster recovery strategies.
Monday November 24, 2025 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Single Session
Multi Session
These lectures will follow Albert Einstein’s scientific achievements and his controversial personal life. The importance of his scientific publications and his famous opposition to Niels Bohr will be explained. We will show that his theories fundamentally underpin much of today’s modern science and technology. This is a Zoom class so you can watch from the comfort of your home or in the company of others at the Kamloops Sports Council.
John Felvinci
John Felvinci was born in Hungary and came to Canada after the 1956 revolution. He studied at McGill and earned a doctoral degree in nuclear physics. In 1965, John left for the US to teach and do research at Columbia in New York. During his research, he branched out to computers and later worked in industry, installing radiation monitoring and security systems at nuclear power plants. In 1990, John returned to Montreal and worked in telecommunications. After he retired in 1994, he joined MCLL (McGill Community of Lifelong Learning), where he has been active in moderating study groups, and giving lectures and helping with administration.
Tuesday November 25, 2025 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Tuesday December 16, 2025 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Tuesday December 2, 2025 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Tuesday December 9, 2025 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Single Session
Multi Session
Bala will share stories of hope and resilience in building communities. He will describe the on-going work with disaster-affected communities in Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, and BC. For example, many coastal villages in India and Sri Lanka fall under the Coastal Multi-Hazard Zone (CMZ), making them highly vulnerable to inundation due to sea erosion. Small-scale fishing communities are vulnerable to cyclones and floods. As well, they are vulnerable to losing their rights to the sea, and in addition the fishing grounds and destruction because of industrial trawl fishing and climate change events. At the end of the presentation, Bala and participants will look at our own stories of hope and resilience using narrative tools, and by doing so, create collective hope and strength.
Bala Nikku
Bala Nikku, PhD, a racialized social work teacher, scholar, and practitioner, came to Canada in 2018. He is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at TRU. Before coming to Canada, Dr. Nikku taught social work at universities in Nepal, India, and Malaysia. He teaches and researches international social work, disaster resilient futures, climate justice, immigrant rights, and social work practice innovations.
Thursday November 27, 2025 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Single Session
Multi Session
Videographer Alison Maclean will present her latest feature video, showcasing the Liberation of the Netherlands from German occupation. It relates the history of the first ever humanitarian AID Convoy negotiated during German occupation and the leading role played by Canadian troops. Featured are archival footage, Dutch children’s witness stories and veterans’ comments.
Alison MacLean
Alison is a combat videographer, who through her company, Tomboy Digital Productions, has created several thought-provoking feature videos: “Op Faust: Hunger Winter ’45″”, “Burkas2Bullets”, (winner of 5 international film festival awards), “Chinatown Then and Now” and “Kandahar”. Earlier in her career, Alison was a camera person and covered live news hits, studio interviews, Olympic events, World Series, and numerous World Cup competitions in a variety of sports.
Monday December 8, 2025 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Register Now
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