Everything Glendale

Filed Under: Classes, Community Happenings, Continuing Education, Education, Events, Glendale Community College, Workshops

You know those movies rife with parent-child conflict in which a mother pleads with her daughter something like, "I'm doing the best I can raising you! It's not like they gave me handbook when you were born!" Well, the Continuing Education program at Glendale Community College attempts to shrink the learning curve with its tuition-free Parent Education Program.

Classes, which are held in Glendale and La Canada, feature professional parent educators who lead discussions on discipline, sibling issues, nutrition, eating behaviors, kindergarten preparation, safety, potty training, and communication. Who knew?

Glendale Community College
Continuing Education Program
Parent Education Program
818.243.5196
http://www.glendale.edu/continuinged/classes/parenteducation.htm

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Filed Under: Classes, Community Happenings, Community Services Education, Continuing Education, Education, Events, Glendale Community College, Workshops

Don't know your Excel from your elbow? Think mastering PowerPoint could catapult you from back-office obscurity to the Board Room? Glendale Community College offers a bunch of computer classes absolutely free under its Continuing Education program.

A friend of mine who was recently laid off work has been brushing up her computer skills though the college to stay sharp and get ahead in the job market, and she spoke highly of the course structure.

Glendale Community College
Continuing Education Program
Garfield Campus
1122 E. Garfield Avenue
Glendale, CA 91205-2526
818.240.1000, ext. 5678 or 5681
www.glendale.edu/continuinged

The college's Community Services Education also has a program of short courses and workshops at extremely reasonable cost. The Winter 2009 brochure is dizzying – the only problem is trying to make up your mind what to choose.

Last semester I took the excellent Drawing The Human Figure ($95 for six classes), and this time I'm torn between Conversational Chinese ($85 for six classes), Argentine Tango ($79 for eight classes), Beginning Italic Calligraphy ($35 for one class), and Outdoor Survival Techniques ($89 for a six week course).

There's everything from arts and crafts to computer technology, sports, music, dance, cooking, money management, creative writing, and beyond.

Glendale Community College
Community Services Education
Garfield Campus
1122 E. Garfield Avenue
Glendale, CA 91205-2526
818.240.1000, ext. 5015
www.glendale.edu/cse

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Filed Under: City Services, Composting, Events, Green Living, Workshops

I have an ash tree on my front lawn. I know this now, but, four months ago when my father-in-law asked me what kinds of trees I have on my property, I was embarrassed to admit that I didn't know.

My husband's family lives in a woody suburb of St. Louis and have been composting for decades. I was excited to tell them that I'd be joining the new locavore movement: buying produce only from farmer's markets, starting my own vegetable garden, and keeping my own compost bin. When my father-in-law highlighted the fact that I didn't know the first thing about quality of foliage that I would be adding to this bin, I thought I was in trouble.

When we returned from our Midwest retreat, I decided attempt composting anyway. And I was nervous. Not only did I not know what trees were on my property, I was an English major in love with all things poetic and metaphysical, and I here I was venturing into the natural world of the sciences. I had picked up one introductory book on composting and was immediately frightened by the specialized technical vocabulary of words like "aeration" and "actinomycetes" and "nematodes" and even some murderous terms as "thermal kill." I never realized composting could be dangerous.

Fortunately, I live in a city that is at the forefront of the eco-movement—and a user-friendly version at that. Each year, the City of Glendale offers composting workshops, "in order to make composting as convenient as possible."

The workshop alleviated any anxiety I held about composting. The presenter definitely reminded me of the many biology and chemistry teachers whose classes I nearly failed. His seriousness about composting was intimidating at first; when he summarized the scientific theories behind the process, my eyes glazed over. But he was also insistent about composting's ease and value. He offered a few sample "recipes" for a typical bin and insisted that you could throw yard waste in haphazardly and still produce quality compost in eight to ten months in a simple home composter.

And, of course, the best part is the free stuff. For an hour's worth of attention, each participant receives a free compost bin and a pitchfork. You can choose between a home composter or a Smith and Hawken Biostack. When I looked them up later, I found that the home composter sold for at least $100 and the Biostack for $129. Unfortunately, on the day I attended, they ran out of pitchforks, so I had to purchase my own. (Get in line early!)

So, my compost pile is built. All I had to do was dump my grass clippings, leaves, and kitchen waste into the bin. And find out what kind of trees I own.

I asked my next-door neighbor if she could identify the tree on our front lawn.

She said, “Oh, sure. That's one big-ash tree.”

Now I know.

City of Glendale Composting Workshops

Friday, March 13, 2009
11:30 a.m.

Saturday, March 14, 2009
9:00 a.m.

Integrated Waste Management Section Yard
548 W. Chevy Chase Drive
Glendale, CA 91204
818.548.3916
www.ci.glendale.ca.us/public_works/backyard_composting.asp

See website for more information on worm composting.

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