Community Education and Training

Choose one of the following dates:
Friday, October 25 | 8:30 am to 4:30 pm
Saturday, October 26 | 8:30 am to 4:30 pm

When a person is caring for a loved one, it is important to acknowledge the extra demands, both physical and mental, that they assume. This workshop provides a safe and respectful environment for caregivers to explore, share, learn and bring awareness into their lives about their health and self-care. We will brainstorm ideas and share and learn about resources with other individuals in similar situations.

During the course, we will cover:

• time management
• self-care health (physical, mental and spiritual)
• support team
• your relationship with the person diagnosed
• medical matters
• finances and legal planning 

Course code: CARE 001 F24R70 / F24R71    
1 session
Fee: $65 + GST
Location: on-campus

Register for The 7 Basic Needs of a Caregiver

Instructor: Robin Morrison

Robin has a long-standing history of providing health and wellness services of massage, yoga, personal training and wellness coaching as well as experience as a personal health care worker. Robin finds herself in a new chapter of her life. Once her husband’s illness was diagnosed, Robin realized that her relationship was going to evolve into a caregiver’s. This awareness made her ask, “What about self-care for the caregiver?” and other very important questions such as, “What do I need to learn about and do to take care of us and me? In what ways do I look after myself while looking after another?”

Believing that an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of a cure, Robin has created The 7 Basic Needs of a Caregiver workshop to address these questions. Robin hopes that participants will feel motivated to take action on any of the steps they need to in order to feel safe and secure. You are not alone!
 

Wednesdays, October 16 to December 4 | 5 to 8 pm

Acrylic paint is a versatile medium with a wide variety of applications. This course is for those who have painting experience and wish to improve their understanding of acrylic techniques in representational or expressive styles. Examples of the instructor's art and the work of other painters will be discussed. This is a hands-on, technique-driven exploration of the painting process by a teacher who can explain and demonstrate tight, controlled rendering as well as a broader, more painterly, approach. All subject matters are welcome but painters of the landscape will find this class particularly invaluable.

Please bring samples of your work or influences.

Materials list will be available at registration.

Course code: ACRY 003 F24R70
8 sessions
$270 + GST
Seats are limited
Location: on-campus

Register for Advanced Acrylic Painting

Instructor: Roy Schneider

Roy graduated from the Alberta College of Art and Design as a fine art print maker and went on to work as an award winning illustrator, creating illustration for some of the world’s largest publishers and design firms. Roy brings his sensibility as a print maker, and his intimate knowledge of the landscape to creating painting with a strong graphic quality and a fresh perspective to Canadian landscape painting. Roy’s paintings are of deep and untouched wilderness, highlighted by the amazing beauty and light of the northern boreal and mountains of western Canada. 

Tuesdays and Thursdays, October 29 to November 14 | 10 am to 12 pm

This course is for those 18+ who want to try pickleball for the very first time.

Pickleball requires both a soft and a hard-hitting game. The Art of Smart Pickleball teaches both the soft side and the hard-hitting side of pickleball with the motto “play smarter, not harder.” After the 3-week course that consists of 12 hours of on-court instruction and play, you will have a solid knowledge of the game of pickleball and its clever strategies. During and afterwards, you will have access to the VIU tiwšɛmawtxʷ gym on a drop-in basis to practice, play and continue your pickleball endeavors.

Come see what all the excitement is about with this fast growing sport.

All you need is to show up with a pair of court shoes, comfortable clothing and a pickleball paddle, if you have one. Don’t forget your water bottle! VIU- tiwšɛmawtxʷ provides all the rest.

Please be advised that even though there is a soft side to the game, pickleball has a lot of stop-and-start leg movements and requires repetitive shoulder use.

Course code: PCKB 001 F24R70         
6 sessions
Fee: $55 + GST
Seats limited to 8 participants
Location: Gym on campus

Instructors: The Odd Squad (Barb Struch, Lina Vallée and Pete Grassmann)

Register for The Art of Smart Pickleball

Mondays, October 7 to December 9 | 5 pm to 6:30 pm
No class Monday, October 14 and November 11

The course is for singers who have prior singing experience as well as an understanding of basic vocal techniques. You should have completed a Sing Outside the Shower course or equivalent and be able to sing their own part with some confidence.

Course code: ENSG 002 F24R70  
8 sessions
Fee: $100 + GST
Location: on-campus

Register Ensemble Singing

Instructor: Susan Lines

Susan has been a facilitator of community music education for over 30 years. She has a Bachelor of Arts from Leicester University, a Bachelor of Music from Ulster University, and a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance from Queen’s University, Belfast. Susan was a lecturer in Performing Arts in Belfast prior to immigrating to Canada. She worked as a church soloist, voice teacher and recitalist in Ottawa. Now in Powell River, she continues to teach voice privately and offers group vocal training through the Sing Outside the Shower courses (a model she developed in Ottawa). Susan is an active vocalist and sings with Vox Madrigal. 

Saturday, October 26 | 9 am to 4 pm

This course is a must for kitchen staff and dining room attendants. It's also worthwhile for anyone who handles food.

You will learn about:

• illnesses
• personal hygiene and health
• serving food
• food protection and preparation
• receiving and storing food safely
• ware washing and storage methods

You must attend all class hours.

Textbook and certificate are included in the cost of tuition. Certificate issued by Vancouver Coastal Health.

Course code: QFOO 001 F24R70
1 session
$85 + $30 lab fee
Pre-registration required by Monday, October 7, 2024
Location: on-campus

Register for FoodSafe Level 1

Instructor: Michael Nguyen

Michael is an experienced Environmental Health Officer (EHO) and passionate educator, specializing in food safety and public health. With a deep commitment to ensuring the well-being of communities and the environment, Michael has dedicated his career to promoting safe food handling practices and fostering a culture of health and sustainability. Michael has worked extensively across the qathet region as an EHO.

Thursdays, October 17 & 24 | 6 to 8 pm and Saturday, October 19 | 9:30 am to 12 pm

It's been 17 years since the first iPhone was released and every iPhone since then has had a camera built into it. Apple estimates that over 3 trillion photos were taken on iPhones last year alone and yet many of us still struggle to make the most of the technology we have at our fingertips 24/7.

This course is for anyone who has an iPhone and is interested in taking better photos--no matter what the subject is. This is a hands-on introduction to photography as much as it is about optimizing the camera features of your iPhone, including:

• basic iPhone camera settings
• composition
• exposure
• in-phone photo editing
• exporting and sharing photos
• iPhone photography apps
• iPhone photography accessories

This course includes two in-class sessions and an on-location field trip.
To get the most out of this class, bring one of the following iPhones: 

• iPhone 7 Plus,
• iPhone 8 Plus
• iPhone X 
• and all versions above (11, 12, 13, 14 and 15).

Course code: IPPH 001 F24R70
3 sessions
Fee: $98 + GST
Location: on-campus and an on-location field trip

Register for iPhone Photography

Instructor: Neil Every

Neil Every is a writer, videographer and photographer with 25 years of experience in film, television, video games and marketing. He has called Canada home since 1994 and has worked on projects of every type for Canadian and global clients including Warner Brothers, the Directors Guild of Canada, Creative BC, LearningMate, Flyover Canada, Gridworks Solar, UBC and Graham Construction. In his role as Marketing Assistant for VIU tiwšεmawtxw, Neil has captured a wide variety of images over the past year and a half that have graced our social media, posters and brochures.

Tuesdays, October 1 to December 3 | 6:15 to 7:30 pm

This course is a basic introduction to reading music.

By the end of the course you will be able to:

• identify basic note values correctly
• identify basic rest values correctly
• identify a range of pitches in both the treble and bass clefs correctly
• understand the relationship between tones and semitones and their enharmonic equivalents

Course Code: REMU  001 F24R70    
10 sessions
Fee: $100 + GST
Location: on-campus

Register for Introduction to Reading Music

Instructor: Susan Lines

Susan has been a facilitator of community music education for over 30 years. She has a Bachelor of Arts from Leicester University, a Bachelor of Music from Ulster University, and a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance from Queen’s University, Belfast. Susan was a lecturer in Performing Arts in Belfast prior to immigrating to Canada. She worked as a church soloist, voice teacher and recitalist in Ottawa. Now in Powell River, she continues to teach voice privately and offers group vocal training through the Sing Outside the Shower courses (a model she developed in Ottawa). Susan is an active vocalist and sings with Vox Madrigal. 
 

See Medical Terminology course.

Tuesdays and Wednesdays, October 22 to November 5 | 5 to 7 pm

Learn Microsoft Office 2019/365 step by step. Get more done quickly. Discover time saving shortcuts for Word and Outlook. Learn how to format, organize and collaborate on high-impact word documents. Improve your productivity with Outlook email, scheduling, and contacts. Make the most of new features like Outlook @mentions and 3D pictures in Outlook and Word.

This course makes it easy for you to learn about key aspects of these two Office 2019 apps. In each part of this course you can start from the beginning and build your skills as you learn to perform specialized procedures.

Additional Expenses: You must buy Microsoft Office 2019 Step by Step by Joan Lambert and Curtis Frye, Publisher Microsoft Press; 1st edition (2018). It can be purchased from an online book store such as Indigo/Chapters and Amazon. List price ranges from $52 to $56.24 + shipping (price varies by retailer). We recommend waiting until after you receive our email one week before the course start date to purchase the textbook.

Please bring a notebook and a memory stick.

Course code: CMIO 001 F24R70 
5 sessions
Fee: $135 + GST
Location: on-campus

Register for Microsoft Office 2019/365 Part 1

Instructor: Mariann Borteleki

Mariann Borteleki has over 20 years of experience working with Windows operating systems. She spent 7 years working at Shaw cable systems in Technical Support and customer service. Mariann has taught herself to instal hardware and software to Windows computers and repair and format computers. She has recently completed courses in the PC Support Specialist program from the Academy of Learning Career College in Nanaimo campus which included Windows 10 operating system and Microsoft Office 2019 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and Outlook).

Tuesdays and Thursdays, November 19 to December 5 | 10 am to 12 pm

This course is for experienced pickleball players who want to add the soft game to their hard-hitting game or add the hard-hitting game to their soft game.

Have you been watching the pros and wondering where your soft game is? Where your hard game is? Now is the time to move up the rating ranks by acquiring the all-round game of pickleball. The Dinker-Banger Fusion teaches participants the difference between both styles and how to fuse the two together with the motto “play smarter, not harder.” After the three-week course that consists of 12 hours of on-court instruction/play, participants will have a far greater knowledge of this higher level of play and, both during and after the course, participants will have access to the VIU- tiwšɛmawtxʷ gym on a drop-in basis to practice, play, and continue their pickleball endeavors.

Remember to bring your court shoes and your pickleball paddle. Don’t forget your water bottle! VIU-tiwšɛmawtxʷ provides all the rest!

Course code: PCKB 002 F24R70
6 sessions
Fee: $55 + GST
Seats limited to 8 participants
Location: Gym on-campus

Instructors: The Odd Squad (Barb Struch, Lina Vallée and Pete Grassmann)

Register for Pickleball: The Dinker-Banger Fusion

Tuesdays, October 22 to November 5 | 6 to 8 pm

This 3-session course is a thought-provoking inquiry into contemporary death culture. The course is designed for those interested or employed in end-of-life care. Specifically, it is relevant for seniors, hospice volunteers, and those working in health care or related fields.

Session 1 - Current Culture: We begin by locating ourselves within the current cultural story of death and dying. We’ll lend a critical eye to militarized language, media portrayals, the medical model, and major movements in death care in the West (e.g. Medical Assistance in Dying).

Session 2 - New Narratives: What stories do we long for to inspire and inform death culture? In this session, we will explore metaphors, myth, and meaning, with the intent to creatively dream new ways of engaging with death.

Session 3 - Community Connections: Together we explore how we can bridge the gap between the story we currently inhabit and the one we wish to invoke. How can we build community resources, connection, and resiliency in death care? What voices will be called on to invoke this new reality?

Course code: REID 001 F24R70    
3 sessions
Fee: $75 + GST
Location: on-campus

Register for Reimagining Death in the Twenty-First Century

Instructor: Anna Byrne

Anna is a certified teacher, holding a combined BA in Psychology and Gerontology and a Master’s degree in Theological Studies. She is a volunteer with Four Tides Hospice Society and co-founder of Community-Supported Dying qathet. Anna’s memoir, Seven Year Summer, explores her experience living with cancer while in her 30s and was named a Finalist for the Whistler Independent Book Awards. You can find her work at annambyrne.com.
 

Tuesdays, October 1 to December 3 | 4:30 to 5:45 pm

This course is for those who are interested in learning more about basic vocal techniques including tuning, breath support, range, flexibility and how to sing in harmony.

This course is suitable for singers who are new to singing or who have completed Sing Outside the Shower Level 1 or 2, and would like to improve their confidence in singing with a view to singing in an ensemble or choir in the future.

Course code: SING 002 F24R70     
10 sessions
Fee: $100 + GST
Location: on-campus

Register for Sing Outside the Shower Vocal Techniques

Instructor: Susan Lines

Susan has been a facilitator of community music education for over 30 years. She has a Bachelor of Arts from Leicester University, a Bachelor of Music from Ulster University, and a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance from Queen’s University, Belfast. Susan was a lecturer in Performing Arts in Belfast prior to immigrating to Canada. She worked as a church soloist, voice teacher and recitalist in Ottawa. Now in Powell River, she continues to teach voice privately and offers group vocal training through the Sing Outside the Shower courses (a model she developed in Ottawa). Susan is an active vocalist and sings with Vox Madrigal.
 

Tuesdays, October 8 to November 12 | 2 to 4 pm

So many of us want to tell our story, share our experiences or encourage others to learn about a topic we’re passionate about. Yet the hardest part can be getting the words down on paper.

This class explores various non-fiction styles such as 

• memoir
• personal essay
• persuasive writing
• experimental prose
• informative non-fiction.

You will explore the art of writing from memory and learn to blend information with personal experiences to enhance your narrative. We'll experiment with exercises to help uncover preferred writing styles and genres, providing valuable insights into crafting prose that is based on both facts and reflections. 

Course code: LFLL 001 F24R70    
6 sessions
Fee: $48 + GST
Location: on-campus
Those under 50 can register for an additional fee of $20 + GST to attend this class

Register for Crafting Non-Fiction Narratives

Instructor:  Shauna Andrews

Shauna has an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC and an extensive background working with diverse forms of non-fiction. With her experience in the realm of writing non-fiction, and her passion for sharing art and technique, Shauna wants to investigate the genre of non-fiction with others who are equally excited to use writing as a tool of exploration. She aims to share her learnings and knowledge with others. Shauna would love to equip writers and artists with the tools needed to craft their story, essay, or observation about the world, their lives, or their surroundings.


 

Wednesdays, October 2 to October 23 (lessons) | 10 am to 12 pm
Fridays, October 4 to October 25 (game days) | 10 am to 12 pm

This course has been created to encourage activity for those 50+ while having a lot of fun.

Pickleball requires both a soft and a hard-hitting game. Gherkin Pickleball teaches the soft side of pickleball with the motto “placement over power.” After the four-week course, players can continue to play the soft game with the Gherkins, or they can take advantage of the follow-up opportunities that will help them transition to the harder-hitting game. Either way, Gherkin Pickleball is a fun way to start your pickleball endeavors.

This course is for those who want to try pickleball for the very first time to see what all the excitement is about with this fast-growing sport.

All you need is to show up with a pair of sport shoes and comfortable clothing so you can move freely. Don’t forget your water bottle! We provide all the rest.

Please be advised that even though we teach the soft game, pickleball has a lot of stop-and-start leg movements and requires repetitive shoulder use.

Game Days on Fridays

They are part of the course and start week one. Game days bring the Wednesday lessons to life!

A mini-tournament may take place on the last Friday, October 25 as a way to end the course.

VIU – tiwšɛmawtxʷ campus would like to thank the Gherkins as they not only volunteer their hours, but also supply the paddles and balls to help subsidize the cost of this course.

Course code: ELDP 001 F24R70     
8 sessions (4 lessons and 4 game days)
$31 + GST for the lessons and a $2 drop-in fee for each game day
Seats limited to 8 participants
Location: on-campus

Instructors: The Gherkins

To register, please call us at 604-485-2878
 

Tuesdays and Wednesdays, October 22 to November 6 | 1 to 3 pm

Get started with Windows 10 operating system! Work with the new start menu, desktop, folders and files. Send and receive email and surf the internet. Work with photos and videos and listen to music. Adjust settings and safeguard your computer.

Course code: ELDP 020 F24R70 
6 sessions
Fee: $48 + GST
Location: on-campus
Those under 50 can register for an additional fee of $20 + GST 

Instructor: Mariann Borteleki

Mariann Borteleki worked for Shaw cable systems as Technical Support. She has an extensive background with computers and Windows in particular. Mariann has been working with the Windows operating system for over 20 years. She wants to get on the students’ level and show them it is safe to do things using Windows 10 and that there are ways to change it back without losing programs and data.

Register for Windows 10 Basics