Zoom out

College focuses on in-person classes this fall

COVID-19 hasn’t been easy for anybody. For the staff at Oregon Coast Community College, who had spent months upon months successfully working to get the college independently accredited, the pandemic hit right when they should have been celebrating a victory. Instead, they, like everyone else, had to cancel everything that couldn’t be done remotely.

But they are coming back strong; carefully, but strong, with in-person adult education classes added to the roster of Zoom-based options.

If you like a smaller class size, now is the perfect time for you to try one of these non-credit courses, including guitar instruction, car care and environmental and health education in a way that keeps social distancing as a priority.

Join environmental scientist Paul Robertson for a free oral tour of the newly expanded UNESCO Cascade Head Biosphere Reserve; mechanic Alan Hamilton for a low-cost and high-value class on basic car maintenance; and long-time college instructor Richard Paris to begin or tune up your guitar playing.

Take care of health matters on the front end, including holistic health, sleep wellness, Zen meditation and adopting a plant-based diet. And plan for the inevitable in “Before the End of Life,” taught by retired firefighter and nurse Barbara Bush, who will help you create a checklist to get your affairs in order.

You can learn the basics of zoom lenses on Zoom, with digital photography classes presented online by local photographer Paul Calkins, ending with an in-person field trip where you can put all you learned into practice with the help of the instructor.

The Small Business Development Center has grown so much over the past decade it is almost outgrowing its name. Long time social media guru Misty Lambrecht will have a few in-person courses that are social media-based, including “Build your YouTube channel,” but will also have some to help you create or improve a small business.

“Making Profitability Job #1,” “Hiring & Employee Management” and “Doing Business in Lincoln County” are included in the list of courses where you will have fewer than usual peers vying for the instructor’s attention.

Reports conflict on the real estate market’s current robustness, but that shouldn’t stop you from pursuing a broker’s license if you’ve been considering it. Instructor Linda Roy is targeting the in-person, “Real Estate Broker’s License Course,” specifically to people who have tried the online versions and found them frustrating.

Classes in the Fall semester will start in October and run through December, depending on the course. Protocols for face coverings might change, but currently masks or shields are required until all students are seated.

For more information, including registration, go to oregoncoast.edu/start-here.