First-grade classmates still hitting the books

Brad Nettles
The Post and Courier

Themy Chakeris, Donald Barkowitz and Buddy Puckhaber take courses at the College of Charleston.

They started learning together in 1940 in Mrs. McCurley's first-grade class at Mitchell Elementary School.

And now Donald Barkowitz, Themy Chakeris and Buddy Puckhaber, all in their early 70s, are learning together again at the College of Charleston.

The men are taking advantage of a program that waives tuition, on a space-available basis, for people over 60 who want to take classes at most of the state's public colleges and universities.

The men pay a $25 per-course fee to take classes at the College of Charleston, and they can take them for college credit or audit the courses, which means they don't have to worry about their grades.

"You can never stop learning. I don't care if you're 90 or 95," said Chakeris, who graduated from the College of Charleston in 1956, then went to pharmacy and medical school at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Chakeris and Barkowitz, who also graduated from the college in 1956 before attending law school at the University of South Carolina, have been taking classes for the past 10 years.

They often go out for lunch after classes, making it not only an academic experience but a social activity as well.

This year, they recruited Puckhaber, who graduated from The Citadel with an engineering degree in 1956. The trio is now known around campus as "the Three Musketeers."

Melissa Whetzel, the college's news manager, said a record-setting 130 students over the age of 60 registered for classes this semester. The students include retired professors, students with advanced degrees, first-time students and even a retired rocket scientist, she said.

Chakeris said he took a lot of math and science courses when he was in school, so he now enjoys learning about things such as music, art and history.

He and Puckhaber are taking a music appreciation class this semester. On Wednesday they listened to and discussed music by Bob Marley, Mozart and Beethoven, as well as religious chants.

"I've always loved music," Puckhaber said, "but I never knew enough about it."

He'll probably take more classes, he said, but he's not sure what else he wants to study.

Barkowitz decided against joining Chakeris and Puckhaber in their early morning music class and is instead taking an 11 a.m. Hebrew class.

"I don't get up until 9 a.m.," he said. "I refuse to set an alarm clock since I retired."

But he's going to keep taking classes, he said. He's taken music, art and finance classes. And he enjoyed a class that looked at U.S. history from Reconstruction to the present so much that he took it three times. Different professors emphasize different historical events, he said, so he learned new things in each of the three courses.

And he audits courses instead of taking them for credit, he said. So he doesn't have to take tests or write papers. He chose to take a test in one of his history classes, he said, and he got a 96, the highest grade in the class.

All of the men said that professors seem to enjoy having them in class.

And the other students are receptive, cordial and genuinely want to know more about them, Chakeris said.

And, he added, "they usually give us Halloween and Valentine's Day candy."

Reach Diane Knich at 937-5491 or dknich@post andcourier.com.