Barbara Bloom

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Barbara Bloom

Barbara Bloom has devoted much of her life to education and has contributed to education in Mt. Airy in many ways. She has been a teacher and has been active on the Mt. Airy Schools Committee. As a reporter for local papers, her articles have focused on education and have created important channels of communication among teachers, administrators, parents and the wider community. Perhaps her greatest accomplishment in Mt. Airy has been the creation of the Mt. Airy Learning Tree (MALT). The adult learning courses and programs sponsored by MALT have become an integral part of the community, part of what makes life in Mt. Airy so special.

Mt. Airy has sustained MALT for many years. But, unlike some other programs that developed in Mt. Airy, the notion of an adult education network did not originate here. Barbara had heard of such programs while living for a time in Colorado in the late 1970s. She was inspired by the Free University for Man, which was one of a number of adult education programs that were part of the Learning Resources Network. Upon returning to Mt. Airy, Barbara was determined to start a similar program here.

MALT started slowly in 1981. The whole idea was so new that Barbara had to work hard just to explain to potential benefactors, teachers, and students what she had in mind. WMAN and EMAN provided financial support for MALT. And local churches and organizations provided space for the courses, which, as Barbara points out, helped both MALT and the organizations themselves. Brochures were printed and mailed to residents and placed in local stores. Still, it took time to build up both the number of courses and registrations per course. To build a new organization, Barbara says, “You just have to persist.” She did. In its first year MALT offered only 17 courses. Now there are over 100 courses held at a time for the large numbers of students that come to MALT from Mt. Airy and surrounding communities.