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Anacortes Senior College

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" Tuesday afternoon classes

Gardening with Skagit County Master Gardeners – Spring Edition

$20

with Marlene Finley

Calendar Apr 16, 2024 at 4 pm, runs for 3 weeks

This course is taught by Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardeners. In Spring Edition, we will teach you how to conserve water in the garden and share a palette of resilient plants for landscaping. Next, we will focus on the fragrant garden; inspiration for planning a garden that appeals to the senses. And finally, we will talk about vegetable garden planning, timing, starting plants indoors and once you do get in the garden, soil and problem solving for various vegetables. Come learn practical advice and creative ways to enhance your gardening journey.

April 16: Waterwise Gardening with Kathy Thornburgh and Bobbi Lemme April 23: Gardening for Fragrance in Your PNW Garden with Diana Wisen April 30: All About Vegetable Gardening with Sheri Rylaarsdam

Class Coordinators: Marlene Finley (MG Class of 2018) & Diana Wisen (MG Class of 1991)

Marlene Finley is past President of Skagit County Master Gardeners Foundation and chairs the Continuing Education committee. Marlene earned a Masters degree from Oregon State University’s College of Forestry and worked in management for 35 years for the USDA Forest Service and National Park Service.

Diana Wisen graduated from Whitman College with a BA in education and taught elementary school for a few years, but when she got involved with Camp Fire Girls and Boys, she discovered she really enjoyed teaching adults. Diana focuses her efforts on outreach and education activities, the Training Team, chairing the Recruitment & Retention committee, planning the Know & Grow workshops and coordinating the Speakers Bureau.

The Mystery Story as Literature

$30

with Matthew Sullivan

Calendar Apr 16, 2024 at 4 pm, runs for 6 weeks

From Sherlock Holmes to C.S.I., mystery stories have been popular and enduring forms of entertainment. In addition to exploring the world of crime, mysteries can offer insight into the nature of good and evil, raise questions about the human condition, and reveal truths about history and culture.

On an introductory level, this class will examine the basic schools of the mystery genre, ranging from the classic to the contemporary. Over six weeks we will read and discuss:

  1. The Roots of Mystery and Classic Detectives (Edgar Allen Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle)
  2. Golden Age/Cozies (Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None)
  3. Hard-boiled Fiction (Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon)
  4. Contemporary Literary Mysteries (novel to be determined)

Required Texts: A few days before the course begins, please check your email for a few readings to complete before the first class (I will bring some print copies to class, as well). Two of the novels we read--And Then There Were None and The Maltese Falcon--should be widely available in libraries and bookstores, and any edition is fine. We will discuss options for our third novel in class.

Instructor: Matthew Sullivan

Matthew Sullivan is the author of the novel Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, which has been translated into seven languages and was a Barnes & Noble Discover Pick, a GoodReads Choice Award finalist, and winner of the Colorado Book Award. His stories and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Daily Beast, and elsewhere. He spent 20 years teaching writing and literature at a community college in rural central Washington. Midnight in the Orchard by the Lake, his new mystery novel, set in Soap Lake, will be published in January 2025 by HarperCollins. He lives in Anacortes.

The Photographers of Anacortes

$20

with Adam Farnsworth

Calendar Apr 16, 2024 at 4 pm, runs for 3 weeks

The Photographers of Anacortes exhibit is a gateway to over 86,000 images in the Anacortes Museum’s online catalog: As the focus of this 3-session course at the Anacortes Senior College, the timeline of Fidalgo and Guemes islands will be explored and explained through the lens of picture-taking here.

The class will learn about the biographies of the photographers – like Wallie Funk, Ferd Brady and more – who documented our town. “If you haven’t visited Anacortes.catalogaccess.com before or recently, there’s so much to discover. People are finding photos they’ve never seen before of family members, and pictures of historic events they’ve only heard about,” states Bret Lunsford, director of the Anacortes Museum. View the Photographers of Anacortes: https://anacortes.catalogaccess.com/exhibits/28

Instructors: Adam Farnsworth and Bret Lunsford

Adam Farnsworth was three months old when his family moved to Anacortes, Washington. He attended Walla Walla University and graduated in 2007 with a degree in New Media Imaging. For the last fifteen years he has worked as a web/graphic designer, studio owner, and for a short stint as the Assistant Brewer at the Anacortes Brewery. In his spare time, Adam is an avid film enthusiast, a podcaster, and musician. He’s currently the Education and Media Curator at the Anacortes Museum.

Bret Lunsford has participated in independent music, art and book production for decades based in his hometown of Anacortes, Washington. He is also a writer of history, author of “Sounding for Harry Smith” and “Croatian Fishing Families of Anacortes” and editor of “Lance Burdon: A Photographic Journey” and “Pictures of the Past: Celebrating 125 Years of Anacortes History.” He graduated from The Evergreen State College in 1988. He is currently the director of the Anacortes Museum.

Understanding World Wide Religion

$30

with Jim Barrett Ed.D.

Calendar Apr 16, 2024 at 4 pm, runs for 6 weeks

Religion impacts all of us every day: foreign policy, government decisions, social interactions, and the wars we fight. What is religion, why do people believe, where did it come from, and why don’t most people talk openly about it? What are the similarities, the differences, and the benefits to followers of the major religions? What trends can we identify? These and other questions will be discussed as well as your own experiences with religion, in this “no-judgment” course.

Instructor: Jim Barrett, Ed.D.

Jim received his BA from Western Washington Univ. and his masters and doctorate from the Univ. of Washington in Higher Education. He was employed by the UW for 32 years in several Health Science positions and retired as Director of the Dept. of Health Sciences Center for Educational Resources and as an affiliate professor in the Dept. of Medical Education. For the past 12 years he has researched and written on the subject of comparative religion.

Getting to Know the Forest

$20

with Jane Billinghurst

Calendar May 7, 2024 at 4 pm, runs for 3 weeks

The goal of this three-week course is to introduce you to the Anacortes community forestlands and some of the amazing organisms that live there, so the next time you take a hike, you can not only enjoy the fresh air and exercise, but also have a better understanding of the events that led to the protection of this special area and a better appreciation for all the fascinating processes going on around you. We’ll start by reviewing the history of the ACFL. Then, we’ll take an in-classroom illustrated tour of some of amazing and often-overlooked organisms that are part of the forest ecosystem. The final session will be a short hike into the ACFL along a wide, flat trail to see what wonders we can find.

Instructor: Jane Billinghurst

Jane is the longtime translator of books by German forester Peter Wohlleben, who wrote the New York Times bestseller, The Hidden Life of Trees. Together with Peter, she co-wrote Forest Walking, a book about experiencing forests to the fullest. She can often be found along the ACFL trails hunched over an interesting mushroom, lichen, or slime mold. To take a peek at some of the treasures she finds, follow her on Instagram at: jane_billinghurst_writer.

GPS – What’s Under the Hood

$20

with Susan Crippen

Calendar May 7, 2024 at 4 pm, runs for 3 weeks

Global Positioning System (GPS) has transformed from a relatively unwanted, obscure government program to one of the technological pillars of modern life. GPS provides critical infrastructure not only to the more obvious applications of positioning services (navigation, emergency services, construction, and agriculture), but also highly accurate timing services (communications, finance).

The course will cover what the system is and a non-nerd friendly walk through of how it works (only one equation, I promise, and it’s OK to close your eyes when it comes up). We will cover system accuracy, error sources, and how choice of receiver changes user results. We will also look at the history of the system and the breadth of applications supported by this amazing public/private partnership. Given the criticality of the system to modern life, it’s also essential to look at vulnerabilities including inadvertent interference, deliberate jamming, and spoofing.

Instructor: Susan Crippen

Susan is a retired engineer (EE,CS) who spent her working life in the remote sensing community. Effective use of GPS was critical to most of her projects.

Her GPS experience started in the mid-80s time aligning separate data streams when an incomplete satellite constellation only provided enough visible satellites a few hours a week. A later program was a DARPA funded airborne 3D radar topographic mapping system.

She also holds a private pilot license and has a grateful appreciation of the benefits of GPS instrument approaches.

The All-American Health Care System: The Good, Bad and Ugly!

$20

with Aaron Katz

Calendar May 7, 2024 at 4 pm, runs for 3 weeks

The American health care system is peculiar among systems around the globe.  We’ll explore and discuss such questions as:

  • Where did it come from? 
  • How is it structured? 
  • How well does it perform? 
  • Why is health care in America the most expensive in the world? 

This three-session course will trace the origins and evolution of the health care system we experience today, including its performance during the Covid pandemic.  And we’ll discuss ongoing efforts to make it work better.

Instructor: Aaron B Katz

Aaron Katz is Principal Lecturer Emeritus at the University of Washington School of Public Health where he taught graduate level courses in health policy and conducted health policy projects and research on a wide variety of issues. During his 32 years at UW, Aaron held numerous academic leadership positions and has received many awards, including the American Public Health Association’s Award for Excellence in 2006 and the Outstanding Teaching Award from the UW School of Public Health in 2004. Aaron and his artist wife, Kate Dougherty, moved to Anacortes in April 2019 after living in Seattle for more than 40 years. They enjoy hiking, biking, pickleball, eating in the area’s great restaurants, listening to music, dancing, and traveling.





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