(upbeat music) - A new community education program, SLC Pursuit Co, is proving that curiosity can build lasting friendships and community.

Co-founders Teresa Anderson-Myers and Heather Santos are in the studio now to talk about how the nonprofit is helping adults discover more about the world around them.

And sorry, correction, it's Pursuit Co that you guys have launched.

So excited about this continuing education program.

Can you share more about why you decided to do this?

- Sure.

Yeah.

So, the Salt Lake City School District had run an adult community education program for 54 years and it had the coolest catalog.

It had such a diverse offering of classes.

And it was something that it had been on my radar forever.

And Teresa and I finally made space in our lives to attend a watercolor class.

And that is when we found out that the program was defunded and would not continue to run.

And so, we were so devastated by the thought of not only not being able to take our watercolor class, but knowing the huge variety of classes that was offered through the catalog.

We thought, you know, Salt Lake can't live without this.

And so, we started Pursuit Co to continue that tradition on.

- I love that you guys are doing this.

It reminds me of when I first was able to select electives in school.

And that's when you really got to choose the courses and the classes that you wanted to learn more about, cared about, and were passionate about.

What is it like to you to be able to continue providing these options for people?

And what are some of the options?

- And I think, a lot about how as we get older and we have our own kids, we provide these opportunities for them.

You know, you're shuttling all of your kids around, but to make space for that for yourself is actually really special.

And being in the schools, it is like a little bit like taking an elective again, but you can appreciate it now as an adult more than when you were a kid.

We have some really cool classes.

So, everything from beekeeping to belly dancing, arts and crafts, like watercolor, and workshops where you can make even gifts for people to give, languages.

I don't know if I said belly dancing.

- The belly dancing.

- Music classes, like mandolin, ballet.

- Yeah.

- Just all sorts of a huge variety of different classes.

And we would love for people to just check them out, poke around to see if anything sparks their interest.

- And I love it.

- When we design the catalog, one of the things we love to imagine is someone just pulling up our website and browsing and thinking, "Oh my gosh, I never thought I could do something like this.

This sounds so interesting."

- Yeah, you guys are really enriching the community.

Thank you so much for sharing this information.

If you would like to learn more about Pursuit Co, just head to the website, slcpursuit.com for more details.

I'm Liz Adeola.

Thank you so much for watching "Contact".

(gentle upbeat music) Philanthropy, arts, culture.

It's what brings us together.

Hi, I'm Liz Adeola, the new host of “Contact,” a show that connec with local events and organizati that serve your community.

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