vancouver school board
Following a passion, like decorating with flowers, is rewarding and inexpensive, thanks to the wide variety of continuing education classes.
I opened my mailbox two weeks back with the zeal of someone expecting the usual thick Visa bill and assorted skyrocketing utility bills. (Why am I paying a “long distance administration fee” anyway?)
But there in the middle of all the bad news was the thick, gold Vancouver School Board Continuing Education flyer, full of possibilities for learning new methods for my madness. Woodworking, perspective drawing, PhotoShop skills, quilting, community choir … I’ve taken them all on and learned a thing or two — well, except for Conversational Italian for Travellers, where I realized I suck at second languages.
On the bright side, the very reasonable course fees reduced the pain of becoming a Conversational Italian for Travellers drop-out.
Nurturing a curiosity or following a personal passion can lead to a range of life skills that can open doors to the world or inspire a second career. For me, taking the odd (sometimes very odd) continuing-ed class has been so much a part of my routine, it wasn’t a huge leap to ditch the day job and dive into full-time art and design school.
I’m heading back to all that this week, but I can’t help perusing the continuing ed flyer and circling some especially enticing course descriptions anyway, like Astronomy: A Historical Overview, or 100 Years Of Eating: Evolution Of Food.
Oh, sure, there are other more useful classes, like Income Tax Know How For Small Business or a course that could finally take the dark mystery out of spreadsheets, but how can those compete with Creative Metal Art or Nightclub Salsa & Merengue?
As usual, my interests are much bigger than my daytimer, so instead I have done a little scanning for my fellow Urban Dwellers interested in improving things on the homefront.
For low-time-commitment types, there’s Redesign Your Home In Just One Day, followed by Preparing Your Home for Sale, both on Oct. 13 at John Oliver ($39). For those of us who’ve vowed to clean up our act, there’s Create a Toxin Free Home on Sept. 19 at Churchill or Oct. 13 at Gladstone ($34), or All Season Container Gardening, at Churchill, Sept. 22 ($79). I’m trying to squeeze in Custom Matting & Mounting Techniques — Photos & Art ($92) or the Ikebana Workshop ($139 — supplies included), at both on Oct. 13 at John Oliver. Some classes fill up fast, so get all the details and register at www.continuinged.caor by calling 604-713-4550.
