Older adults are sowing their oats – or actually OATS – by learning to use and navigate technology.

They are taking part in Older Adults Technology Services – better known as OATS –  through The Bean Path on North Gallatin Street in Jackson.

It is a place where older adults can reach their goals learning technology.

“We teach aging with attitude. We make students comfortable, we observe and meet them where they are,” said Erica Archie, instructor and facilitator of the OATS program.

Archie, teaches tech skills such as using computers to adults over 50 years of age 

The Bean Path reached out to AARP and received grants for the free program, in which seniors take hands-on computer classes.  There are two cohorts each with a Level 1 and Level 2.  Currently, Level 1 has 16 participants and Level 2 has 12 participants.  Everything is provided to students, all computers and laptops. Classes are held in the computer lab.  

Currently the classes are held primarily in the Jackson metro area  through the Jackson Senior Activity Service.

OATS’ is a unique program that helps older adults access technology and use it to enhance their lives. Classes are free and held every Tuesday and Thursday morning. The 10-week program meets the growing demand for in-person technology programs and caters to a diverse range of interests and needs among the aging community, offering digital creativity platforms like Canva and fitness and meditation apps like Insight Timer, the iPhone Health App and Google Fit App.

OATS developed the instructor training for students through hands-on learning, modeling or showing students step-by-step and getting their feedback. Students are also taught with workshops, lectures and course curriculum. The classes are five to 10 weeks, and the first graduation was in July. The second cohort graduation of 28 to 30 students will be Sept. 19.

“We teach health and wellness, using Canva, how to stream music and television, using Google, using Gmail, Zoom, Youtube for fitness and we make it fun,” Archie said.. “Students work in groups and research articles.”

For more information, contact The Bean Path at (769) 208-3567,

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

As Republican lawmakers begin a series of fall hearings to consider an elimination of the individual income tax, Mississippi Today‘s Adam Ganucheau, Bobby Harrison, and Geoff Pender break down the recent history of tax cut and the politics surrounding the idea.

READ MORE: As lawmakers look to cut taxes, Mississippi mayors and county leaders outline infrastructure needs

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Sept. 9, 1968

Arthur Ashe won the U.S. Open Singles Tennis Championship, becoming the first Black man to ever win a Grand Slam event. That same year, he also won the U.S. Amateur Championships, becoming the only player to ever win both events in the same year. He bolted to the top of the tennis world, also winning Wimbledon and the Australian Open. 

Born in Richmond, Virginia, Ashe began playing tennis at 7 and quickly encountered racism that prevented him from competing against white players and even from using the city‘s indoor courts. He and his family moved to St. Louis, where he learned the serve and volley game that made him famous. He also learned how to keep cool under pressure. 

In 1963, he became the first Black player to play for the U.S. Davis Cup team. When the team won, Ashe was unable to keep the winnings because he was still classified as an amateur. 

Considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, he retired in 1980, not long after suffering a heart attack, but continued to remain active, helping captain the Davis Cup teams to victory. He actively supported civil rights, too, joining a delegation that visited South Africa and writing a three-volume history of Black athletes, “A Hard Road to Glory,” which he later learned that Nelson Mandela had read in prison. 

When Ashe underwent a second heart bypass surgery in 1983, he contracted HIV from a blood transfusion. He later spoke out publicly about the disease and worked to raise awareness. “I do not like being the personification of a problem, much less a problem involving a killer disease, but I know I must seize these opportunities to spread the word,” he wrote in his memoir. 

Not long after finishing “Days of Grace,” he died in 1993. That same year, he posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the U.S. Open later named its new stadium after him. In 1996, the city of Richmond dedicated a statue of him on Monument Avenue, which previously commemorated only Confederate icons. 

“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic,” Ashe wrote. “It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” 

Today, the U.S. Open stadium bears Ashe’s name.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.