GREAT CLASSES FOR SENIORS THROUGH CASPER COLLEGE CONTINUING EDUCATION PROGRAM

View this presentation on You Tube

(Casper, WY) -- The start of the new year can be a great time to learn a new skill, brush up on a foreign language, plan a trip or commit to a healthier lifestyle, and the Casper College Continuing Education Program has classes to help you with each of those. That was the topic discussed recently during  Senior-Wise at the Casper Senior Center.

According to Laura Burnett, the college's Community Education Specialist (pictured above, right), classes are very reasonably priced and there's even a financial break for anyone 60 and older.  "We have Golden Age Scholarships available," she said, "from funds that were donated more than 50 years ago. Seniors can take classes at up to 70% off so most are  in the $6-$10 range." Included in the new course list are classes on gardening, music, sewing, art, dance, exercise, photography, and firearm safety.  For more information she suggests going online to the Casper college website at caspercollege.edu and looking under continuing education section.

The college also offers classes through the OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) program. According to program director Vicki Pollock (pictured above, left), OLLI has been around nine years and continues to grow. "We started with six classes and 37 members," she explained, "and now we offer more than 40 classes and we have 500 members." These classes have a target age group of 50. She says a one year membership in OLLI is $55 and includes two complimentary classes in spring, one class in summer and two classes in the fall. She also said OLLI classes are less how-to and are more hands-on. For example, she says they offer many field trips. The Older Than Dirt class is the fossil hunting class, while the Home Grown Adventure class goes and explores the area's natural history. 

They also offer tours several times each year. Previously, they've taken groups to San Francisco for a tour of wine country and conducted a Music City Tour to New Orleans, Nashville and Memphis.  Next year they plan trips to Greece and Canada.

Registration for the Community Educations classes has already begun and will continue until the individual class starts, although some classes don't begin until April or May.  The most important date for registration is January 27. Registration will be held between 4pm-6pm that day at the Gateway Building on campus. You can also register by phone with a credit card. 

Senior-Wise is an information and discussion program held Tuesdays at 12:30 at the Casper Senior Center.