Adult Education Classes

Know nothing about playing Mah Jongg & want to learn the game? This class starts from the very beginning! We will use the National Mah Jongg League Rules, thirteen tiles, No futures. Learn the tiles, how to read the card, set up, basic play, defensive play, and winning strategies. By the end of the class, you will be able to form your own game, or play an existing game, and you will be hooked! Ideally the game is played with four people. You can make your own group, or we will match you with others! If you have access to a set, please bring it. Note: There will be a $15 fee, payable to the instructor the first session to buy the required Mah Jongg League Rules and Game Card for 2023. The class is limited to eight people so sign up soon.

The past often follows us like a shadow, while the future generally speaks through gentle tugs. If we listen, both can tell us something about ourselves, others and how to live in a world of twists and turns we can’t predict. When we put pen to paper, surprise is inevitable. In this 5-week course, we will use written, visual, and auditory prompts to poke around in both areas. For this generative writing experience, only a willingness to explore is necessary.

Barbara Bald is a retired educator from NH who served as a PSNH Board Member. Her poetry books include: Drive-Through Window, Other Voices/Other Lives and Running on Empty. Barb assisted with Maine’s Sense of Place program, worked at the Frost Place in Franconia, NH and served as an outreach coordinator for NHPTV. Barb is most interested in helping folks who think they can’t write, learn to write!

Back by popular demand, the duo Phil and Bill will be offering two time slots to teach you how to play the fastest growing sport in the USA in the Oldest Resort in the USA! Pickleball is a hybrid of tennis, badminton, and ping-pong! This class has been designed especially for you. You will learn primary skills, rules, terminology like what the kitchen is all about, and much more. We will supply paddles, balls, and indoor gym space perfect for someone who wants to learn how to play pickleball and prepare them for social play. Don’t delay in signing up for one of the time slots, each class is limited to 12!

This is a basic course for learning the art of eggshell mosaic. Using eggshells and simple techniques, you will learn to make a beautiful picture like you’ve never seen before. Students will choose the picture they want to work on while turning discarded eggshells into a mosaic masterpiece. Sign up soon to learn the basics of a new art. Class is limited to 7 people. A $10.00 materials fee will be payable to the instructor the first night.

This three-night course will be offered the last week of October, just in time for those upcoming projects. From securing camping equipment, a party tent, hauling watercraft on a roof rack, or securing that oversized item you just bought at the home improvement store, you need to know what you’re doing. You will learn how to tie the most important, and basic knots. With the basics of rope work, you can master any situation requiring rope. This is much easier than most would imagine. It is simply a matter of knowing how to tie the knots properly, and using the appropriate knots in any specific situation that calls for rope to be used. A $10.00 materials fee will be payable to the instructor for the first class.

Ever want to know what visits your backyard at night? What sleeps under your shed? Care to help children identify tracks and signs of the animals with which we share the land? We will examine pelts, prints, track patterns, strides, straddles, and resources to help decode stories on land. No science experience is necessary, but curiosity and love of the natural world is.

Barbara Bald taught science to sixth-grade students in Gilford for 22 years, has worked with GMCG conducting water sampling, and helped facilitate the Sense of Place program for second graders in schools in Maine. She took tracking classes with Paul Rezendes and his senior trackers, along with members of AMC and staff of the White Pines program in Maine. Barb has been tracking animals for 20 years, but with so much to learn about the land and the creatures that live in it, she still considers herself an intermediate tracker.

Dahlias are such spectacular flowers, but they have an undeserved reputation of being a little fussy to grow and keep year after year. Master Gardener Susan Poirier will demystify the growing and storing of dahlias and introduce you to the delights of adding these spectacular flowers to your garden.

In this class, Helen, using her personal recovery experience of twenty-five years, will teach how to use letter writing as a way to find peace, acceptance, and gratitude after loss.

Join Gingerbread Amy for a demonstration on the “happy joyful peaceful” way to put together a gingerbread cottage from scratch! Hot glue? Not always! Learn all kinds of fun tips and enjoy the craft with friends and family for years to come without the usual drama and disaster. Class includes a tour of Gingerbread Amy’s private workshop and cookies and perhaps wine and cheese. The evening will definitely include a drawing for special gifts. The cottage created together will go home with the lucky winner. This fun class is limited to the first 8 people.

If you have an idea of something you want to build – anything from a simple workbench to an entire house- you can do it with ease in a free version of state-of-the-art 3D software. In four evenings, Jim will take you from the very basics to the full power of what you can create. By the end of the course, you will be able to create a final project, with all the necessary dimensions, to do the construction yourself, or take the plans to someone who can. This class will meet on these dates: 11/13/2023, 11/14/23, 11/16/23, and 11/20/23.

Learn the Key(card) way to successfully bid those big hands. We welcome all card players of all levels to join us as we happily stumble along trying to master the game of bridge. A six-week course tried and tested bidding methods (ACBL accredited) in a warm and friendly atmosphere. What is your definition of a big hand? What is a keycard? Where locally, can you practice and play? This is Seriously Social Bridge, learning the game the easy way. This six-week course will be held every Monday at a cost of $60 per person starting October 16^th. A free 3-month membership to new ACBL members.

A combination of strength and cardio, modified to all participants abilities and preferred modalities. Using hand weights and body weights to increase the heart rate with plyometric intervals.

Come learn the basics of yoga which include floor stretching, slow and steady movements to various postures while focusing on correct alignment and breath. All are welcome and no experience necessary.

Enjoy these 30 minutes on the barre and 30 minutes off class. Deeper stretching and strengthening with shorter movements to isolate smaller muscle groups followed by a guided fitness class off the barre.

Learn the basics of Tai Chi from a master who has taught for many years. He will gently guide you through each movement with caution and ease so that you can learn from your experience and build a strong foundation for advancement. 

This class was tailored towards those looking to keep an active lifestyle. Exercise will increase muscle strength, range of motion, balance, and stability. Whether you are looking to improve athletic performance, maintain function or simply build a more durable body for daily activities, you will be sure to see improvements in all areas.

Attainable by all, this class is a great alternative if you have difficulty getting up and down off the floor. We do some yoga and stretching while seated, as well as standing poses, balancing and core strengthening while using the chair and weights.