Acalanes Adult Education is thrilled to announce the start of its Fall Quarter 1 on Monday, August 11, 2025. We invite you to embark on a journey of continuous learning and personal growth with us.

Enrollment is open today! Don't miss this opportunity to expand your horizons and acquire new skills. Our diverse range of course offerings for Fall Quarter 1 is designed to cater to a variety of interests and learning objectives. Whether you are looking to advance your career, explore a new hobby, or simply enrich your life through knowledge, Acalanes Adult Education has something for everyone.

Within this email you will discover a sampling of some of the exciting courses we will be offering this Fall Quarter 1. This is just a glimpse of the many opportunities that await you.

We strongly encourage you to explore our full course catalog, available online and at our campus, to find the perfect fit for your aspirations. Consider enrolling today to secure your spot, as popular courses tend to fill up quickly.

Join the vibrant learning community at Acalanes Adult Education and discover the transformative power of lifelong learning! We are committed to providing high-quality instruction in a supportive and engaging environment. We look forward to welcoming you to Fall Quarter 1!

This class will focus on exercises that touch on the three principles of improv: Yes and ..., Make Your Partner Look Good, and Be Spontaneous. Guests will learn to think on their feet and feel at ease to share their thoughts and ideas in a warm and welcoming environment. This will build on the beginner class with more emphasis on scene work and character development.

In this course, Guests are encouraged to select a sewing pattern of their choosing and will get hands-on support from the instructor in constructing it. Class will run like a workshop where Guests can ask questions and get help with some of the trickier aspects of sewing, such as fitting garments and making basic adjustments to pattern pieces. This is an intermediate level course so Guests are expected to have a working knowledge of their sewing machine.

Have you ever felt the overwhelming urge to silence the relentless barrage of beeps, vibrations, and pop-up notifications that constantly demand your attention on your iPhone? Perhaps you simply desire a momentary escape from the digital cacophony or need to ensure your device remains completely silent during a movie screening, theatrical performance, or important meeting. Discover the powerful and customizable world of Focus modes! This session will delve into the intricacies of setting up and utilizing Focus modes on your iPhone, allowing you to curate your digital environment to match your current needs and activities. Learn how to tailor notifications, designate allowed contacts, and create specific Home Screen pages that activate automatically with each Focus mode. Gain control over when and how your iPhone interrupts you, fostering a greater sense of concentration, tranquility, and mindfulness in your daily life. Whether you are seeking uninterrupted work time, peaceful relaxation, or simply to ensure your phone stays silent in sensitive situations, Focus modes provide the tools to reclaim your attention and prioritize what truly matters.

At first glance, the Contacts app on your Apple device might seem mundane, perhaps even the most unexciting of all the applications available. However, this initial impression belies its true significance. In reality, the Contacts app plays a crucial, if often overlooked, role in the seamless functioning of your Apple device. It serves as the linchpin that facilitates effortless communication with your network of acquaintances, colleagues, friends, and family. Without it, the ease and convenience of interacting with others through your Apple device would be severely hampered. It is the foundational directory that organizes and stores vital contact information, enabling quick access and ensuring that staying connected is not just possible, but exceptionally straightforward.

This class introduces advanced beginners to musical notation and basic classical guitar compositions. By the end of the course, Guests will be able to play simple classical pieces and will have a general understanding of the guitar neck and hand positions. Prior elementary music and guitar knowledge is necessary. Participants must bring a nylon-string guitar and a footstool.

Starting with copper, learn the technical aspect/process of tooling light metals. Learn to thoroughly tool the metal, including developing raised/embossed and recessed areas, working neatly with this unusual process. Develop aesthetic sensibility in creating a pleasing composition (use of space). Learn finishing techniques including antiquing, polishing, and mounting artwork. Continue with tooling aluminum and/or brass as time permits.

Learn to tool light metals like copper, aluminum, and brass, developing raised/embossed and recessed areas neatly. Focus on aesthetic composition and finishing techniques such as antiquing, polishing, and mounting.

Copper Relief Sculpture Examples:

Metal Relief Sculpture Examples

This floral design class offers courses for all levels, from beginner to master, catering to individuals seeking personal enrichment or professional certification. Course offerings include Basic, Advanced, Modern, Wedding, Instructor Training, and Master Floral Design. Advanced Guests interested in Ikebana, the Japanese art of floral arrangement, are also encouraged to enroll. Please note that participants will be responsible for the cost of any extra materials needed for their weekly arrangements.

This class is designed for beginning, intermediate, and beyond Guests. Learn to expand your creativity and art education while having fun. Paint from photos of your choice. Learn strong composition by lectures, and how to attain accurate color, values, and representation through painting demonstrations and individual instruction including critiques. Powerpoint lectures on various forms of composition and a portrait video is available upon request and is encouraged for further advancement towards professionalism. Please view instructor’s website at www.garybergren.com

Paper cut art is a fascinating and intricate form of visual art that involves cutting paper into shapes, patterns, and images to create beautiful, detailed works. The art form dates back centuries and has been practiced in various cultures around the world, with different styles and techniques emerging over time. Our project is based on "Molas," an art form created by Kuna Indians in Panama … your choice of image content.

Please see student examples here:

Paper Cutting - Mola Examples

This quarter of Spanish will offer Guests a thorough review and significant expansion upon their existing understanding of both simple and compound verb tenses. We will move beyond basic recognition and usage to explore the nuances and specific contexts in which each tense is most appropriately applied. Through a variety of exercises and activities, Guests will solidify their grasp of the present, past (preterite and imperfect), future, conditional, and perfect tenses.



In conjunction with this in-depth exploration of verb tenses, the course will also cover several crucial grammatical concepts. Guests will learn to confidently identify and correctly utilize direct and indirect objects, understanding their function within sentence structure and mastering their corresponding pronouns. Furthermore, we will dedicate significant time to the often-confused prepositions por and para, clarifying their distinct meanings and applications through practical examples and exercises. Beyond these core topics, we will address other relevant grammatical elements as needed to enhance Guests' overall fluency and accuracy in Spanish. The goal is to provide a comprehensive and practical understanding of these fundamental grammatical building blocks.

This course delves into a comprehensive exploration of the subjunctive mood, focusing specifically on its various tenses. Guests will engage in an in-depth study of each subjunctive tense, gaining a nuanced understanding of their formation, usage, and semantic distinctions. Furthermore, the curriculum will incorporate the review and instruction of essential grammatical concepts as necessary. These supplementary grammatical topics will be addressed strategically to ensure Guests possess a complete and robust understanding of the linguistic structures underpinning the subjunctive mood and facilitating a thorough comprehension of all course content.

This course introduces the fundamentals of PowerPoint and advances to intermediate-level skills, enabling Guests to create impactful electronic presentations and print materials like flyers, brochures, and reports. Guests will learn to insert and modify text, images, and graphics to effectively communicate their ideas. Key topics will be covered, allowing Guests to work with presentations created by others. Guests can bring their own laptops (PC or Mac) with PowerPoint installed or utilize lab computers.

Discover the seamless blend of security and convenience with Apple Pay and the Wallet app, your gateway to effortless transactions on your iPhone. Transform your purchasing experience by embracing a digital wallet that eliminates the need to carry physical cards, reducing bulk and enhancing your mobility. Imagine a world where checkouts are swift, payments are simplified, and your financial details are protected with advanced encryption. With Apple Pay, that world is a reality. Each transaction is authorized through Face ID, Touch ID, or a unique passcode, providing an extra layer of security that safeguards your information from potential threats. Experience the joy of tapping your iPhone to pay at countless stores, restaurants, and online retailers. Not only will you lighten your load and travel with less physical clutter, but you will also find yourself enjoying a significantly faster, easier, and ultimately safer way to handle your everyday financial interactions, all within the familiar ecosystem of your iPhone.

Unlock your creativity and explore the vibrant world of watercolor painting in this introductory course. Designed for beginners, this class covers essential techniques such as washes, blending, layering, and color mixing. Guests will learn how to use brushes, papers, and paints effectively while developing their own artistic style. No prior experience necessary—just a willingness to experiment and have fun with color and water.

Widgets, those compact, interactive elements found on your iPhone or iPad's home and lock screens, are meticulously designed to deliver a wealth of information at a glance, significantly streamlining your device's usability. These dynamic modules offer quick access to essential data, updates, and even specific functions of your favorite apps without requiring you to fully open them. Whether it is a weather forecast, upcoming calendar events, a stock market ticker, or music controls, widgets bring critical information and handy tools directly to the forefront. Their placement on the home and lock screens allows for personalized customization, letting you arrange and select the information that matters most to you. This thoughtful integration not only enhances convenience but also minimizes the time spent navigating through apps, ensuring a faster, more efficient user experience where key details and functionalities are just a tap or glance away.

This course introduces the fundamentals of email use and progresses to more advanced functionalities. Beginning with the basics, instruction will cover categories, methods for searching, organizing, and sorting emails, managing threads, proper quoting techniques, strategies for blocking unwanted messages, and procedures for handling junk mail.