College offers fun classes to brighten winter

Although KPC offers quality academic and vocational programs to its students, it also makes a priority of offering classes of interest to the general community. The college has many "experts," both full-time and part-time faculty, who bring their knowledge to the wide variety of classes on campus.

Always wanted to learn to fly? Sign up for Frank Miller's private pilot ground school, offered from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday nights. The class prepares students for the FAA private pilot knowledge test.

For those who want to stay closer to the ground, KPC's well-known anthropology professor, Alan Boraas, is offering a local knowledge course from 4 to 6:45 p.m. Tuesdays. Students will study the peoples and cultures of the Native, Russian and American periods in the Cook Inlet region.

The vibrant energies of the full-time art professors, Celia Anderson and Jayne Jones, along with the talented part-time instructors on staff, have resulted in a slate of available art courses, including quilting, beginning drawing, oil painting for pleasure, hand-built ceramics, sculpture, watercolor painting, surface design, computer art and design and more. For more information, check the KPC spring 2003 course catalog or visit the KPC Web site at www.kpc.alaska.edu.

Winter in Alaska also is a great time to sit in front of a computer screen exploring the World Wide Web. KPC offers computer classes that can teach students everything from keyboarding to exploring the Internet. Classes that cover commonly used Windows-based programs such as Excel, QuickBooks, Access, PowerPoint and Word are offered to help students gain practical skills. Students can even learn the skills to build their own Web sites in the Using Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) class taught by KPC computer guru Mark Jensen.

Why not learn how to play the guitar this winter? There are classes for both beginners and advanced players.

If theater is your bag, you can join Shona DeVolld's college-level acting class on Tuesday night at Kenai Central High School.

"Bears and Bear Studies" is a new class being taught by Stephen Stringham, bear expert and author of the book, "Beauty Within the Beast." The book is available at the KPC Bookstore and other area book outlets, and Stringham will bring his personal experiences to the classroom as well.

Finally, if a semester-long commitment is too much, check out the short courses that start throughout the semester. KPC has plenty of abbreviated courses coming up, including fly-fishing, herbal and nutritional studies, cycles of nature and defeating depression.

Registration still open

Things are in full swing at KPC, with the first week of classes now but a memory. But there is still time to sign up for that class you've been meaning to take. Late registration continues through Monday during normal business hours. For more information about how to register, call Student Services at 262-0330.

This column is provided by Suzie Kendrick, community relations coordinator at Kenai Peninsula College.