Tellico Village University saw positive gains in its second year of operation, which most recently included a move to the Kahite neighborhood.

On July 16, TVU held the first of two Kahite-based classes, titled “The Art of Animation: Disney Characters,” in which Village resident Kerry Tripp walked class members through steps on how to draw the cartoon characters.

A “Tellico Skies Astronomy” class was held July 21, 28 and Aug. 4.


“It went fabulous,” Cindy Solomon, TVU director, said about the program. “We ran two courses, and they are both very well attended. It’s an ideal place to use, and we hope to use it again.”

Rich Gettings, who helped organize the Kahite classes, said 15 attended the animation class, which allowed Villagers to bring children and grandchildren, and 39 signed up for the astronomy class.

“It was a great success really,” Gettings said.

Classes were held in the Kahite annex, which Gettings and Solomon both called an ideal location in terms of available space.

“Facilities for classes at TVU are few and far between,” Gettings said. “… Kahite offers another room for having slightly larger classes.”

Solomon said she plans to reach out to Kahite neighborhood residents and see what classes residents would like to have in the future.

Gettings said he hopes to see more classes — like the astronomy offering — that bring students from all across Tellico Village.

“The Kahite neighborhood, it’s a short distance from the main Village where all the other neighborhoods area at, but it is part of Tellico Village,” Gettings said. “People here sometimes feel like people up there don’t want to come down here and stuff like that.

“... I think the people down here would love to see more classes down here, and I would hope that people in other parts of Tellico Village would come down here just like we would go up there,” he added.

While future Kahite classes have not been officially planned, Solomon said she was working on the schedule for TVU’s third year, which will begin with the spring semester in February. The semester runs until early June.

“We’ve been running 15-20 classes per semester,” she said.

Attendance for classes is unlikely to change in the future as it is often dictated by space and resources.

Computer application courses will be limited to 10 students as the instructor works to actively provide help to each participant.

Other classes can range from 20-50 participants, Solomon said.

For more information, visit https://tvuniversity.wordpress.com. Courses will be posted online for the 2017 spring semester when finalized. Registration is currently available for classes beginning in September.