Starting in late February, Sheridan College will offer a six-week Spanish class for advanced beginners or beginning intermediate students in the community. The class will not be for credit and is aimed at adults looking to develop their language skills. It will be followed by another six-week course starting in April.
Each session will cost $90.
Northern Wyoming Community College District President Walter Tribley said the class is an example of how community colleges should provide education and opportunities for the community beyond its degree and credit classes.
"It magnifies how a college can be relevant and a wonderful resource for a community that it's located in. When you see a real strong community education program, it really connects the community with your college," Tribley said.
A course like this could be for adults who are busy during the day or local students looking for more opportunities to learn Spanish.
Tribley said they created the class after feedback on what opportunities the college could provide to the community.
"We're responding to a part of the community that had expressed an interest, that assured us that we'd have enough students to at least break even on the class. So it was quickly put together by people on the instruction side," he said.
Tribley said this is something the district would like to do more of, but only if the funding is available.
"I don't have the funding to roll out a big initiative, etc. Where we're trying to do is to sustain our funding for our core mission. Right now across Wyoming, we're trying to keep our K-12 system open and our colleges and our university open," Tribley said.
Have a question about this story? Contact the reporter, Catherine Wheeler, at cwheel11@uwyo.edu