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Judy Fandrei practices a strike on Antonio Sandoval as Ray Purugganan (in white) coaches other students. Sandoval and Purugganan co-teach a women's self defense class.
Photo by M. Scott Moon
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The picture of eight 18- to 24-month-old toddlers bursting gleefully onto the basketball court of a school gym is not what one typically conjures up as an image of night school, but that's exactly what can be expected during Toddler Time, one of a wide array of evening classes offered by Soldotna Community Schools.
Earnestly offering education for all ages, Community Schools, which is sponsored by the city of Soldotna and the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, has classes for toddlers, children, teens and adults, ranging in subject matter from art to computer Web technology.
Many of the classes are offered free of charge, while some have a nominal registration fee or fees for supplies, and most meet in Soldotna Middle School on West Redoubt Avenue.
Classes also are offered at Skyview and Soldotna high schools, Kalifornsky Beach Elementary School and at the Kenai River Center on Funny River Road.
Described by its newly hired program lead coordinator Carmen Triana as "a low-risk way to explore things you always wanted to explore," Community Schools is designed to provide lifelong learning in educational, cultural and recreational areas through classes and activities.
Children can sign up for private music lessons at $15 per 30-minute lesson and adults can take beginning band. While the children's lessons are offered for all band instruments, plus singing, adults are encouraged to learn an instrument they've always wanted to play or relearn one they learned years ago, but set aside.
Arts and crafts classes offered during the current fall term include silk painting, beginning pottery, knitting, basic woodworking and an Alaska favorite, fur skin sewing.
Community Schools students also can learn about how to trade and invest in the stock market, about wills, probate and power of attorney and about Alaska's law relating to concealed weapons.
Techies can learn the basics of digital camera photography, about palm handheld communication devices and beginning Excel computer program ins and outs, as well as about the Worldwide Web.
Not all learning takes place in the classroom, as is evidenced by the setting during Toddler Time and classes in yoga, men's basketball, indoor soccer and women's self-defense.
Described in the Community Schools program booklet as "open gym for the little people to cruise," Toddler Time is meeting this year on Tuesday evenings in the multipurpose room of Soldotna Middle School.
"Last year there were about four parents who got together (with their children) on a regular basis. We bonded and did things together over the summer. This year, there are about 50 parents," said Eileen Sverdrup, who was attending Toddler Time with her twins, Emily and Gunnar, who are 2 years old.
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Gail Moore teaches Raven Cervantes, foreground, how to knit during one of two "Knitter's Night Out" gatherings offered at Soldotna Middle School through the Soldotna Community Schools program. More than 40 different programs were offered during the current schedule.
Photo by M. Scott Moon
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"The class helps us as parents and allows us to do things with our kids," she said.
During the summer, she said she and her husband, James Borden, got together with their children and the others they met during last year's Toddler Time for barbecues, outings to the beach and a Halloween party.
Angela Hunt, a Soldotna mom, brought 18-month-old Bradley to "run off some energy in the evenings," she said.
Hunt said she believes Toddler Time also helps teach her son to share with other kids.
Parents are urged to bring some of their children's toys to the class, which is offered free of charge every Tuesday from 6 to 6:45 p.m.
The class also affords a time for Hunt to visit with her sister, Amanda Coates, who brings daughter, Courtney, also 18 months.
Within minutes of their arrival, most of the children were linking up with other kids, sharing toys ‹ some less willingly ‹ and seemingly learning the rules of socializing in a tiny world that doesn't yet include much spoken language.
While some parents sat along the side of the full-court basketball floor watching their children roam around, others stayed in the thick of things, playing a game of catch, coaching a little floor hockey or lending assurances that it was OK to let another tyke use one of their three "most favorite" toys for a short time.
Brent Rogers, whose wife, Maryanne gave birth to the couple's daughter, Daisy Marie, a week ago, came to Toddler Time with son, Max, 18 months.
"We just came to play, to get Max to play with other kids and just to have fun," Rogers said.
Holly Davis, who was an elementary school teacher for 10 years before having daughter Olivia, 17 months, brings the youngster "so she can get out and see other kids and play."
Coming to Toddler Time about one month, Davis said her husband, Greg, also has come to the class with Olivia twice.
"This is great," said Ryan Kapp, about having a room the size of a basketball court for the children to play in. "The average size living room is 15 by 20."
Kapp and wife, Lauri, brought 20-month-old Spen-cer, a budding hockey player, who accurately shot a plastic ball to Dad's feet with a kid-sized hockey stick from halfway across the court.
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High school students play a game of indoor soccer on one of two courts at Soldotna Middle School earlier this month. Soccer is one of the recreational opportunities offered through Soldotna Community Schools. Other offerings include hall-walking for those who don't wish to take their chances strolling outside, and yoga for those who wish to limber up.
Photo by M. Scott Moon
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"It's good to get him to run around and interact with other kids," Kapp said.
Spencer did not seem too keen on the interaction part when the family first arrived, clinging tightly to his hockey stick, his ball and his tricycle, but once the hockey activity built a head of steam, the trike was soon left to the joy of one of the little girls in attendance.
Single mom Wendy Tauriainen also said she brings son Xander, 18 months, "for the interaction with kids and to learn to share."
On Wednesday, the multi-purpose room was void of little ones, as Antonio Sandoval and Ray Purugganan moved in to teach the martial art of karate in a women's self-defense class.
Desiree Marineau, who was in her first year of training, was learning to deflect the hands of an advancing assailant, side stepping the attack, finger or fist-striking the attacker's eyes and setting up for a knee kick to the groin ‹ all in one motion.
If being grabbed by the arm, Marineau learned to use the assailant's own weight against him by twisting her arm against his thumb, breaking the hold and striking his head. A side step past the assailant also would put one of Marineau's legs behind that of the attacker, and by throwing her weight into his hips, she could knock him to the ground.
The technique worked well even when the small-in-stature Marineau tried it on the larger Sandoval.
Of course, knowing what was coming, Sandoval was able to maintain his balance, but just barely.
The instructor and student practiced barefooted on vinyl mats, and Sandoval held a thick, 30-inch long body pad in front of himself to catch the aggressive strikes of his student.
Around the corner and just down the hall from the hand-to-hand combatants, a much more peaceful scene unfolded as a half-dozen women gathered around the table for "Knitters Night Out."
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Milo Jurik talks to a class about how to invest for the future during a workshop called "Family Wealth Strategies."
Photo by M. Scott Moon
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Though the course this year was only two weeks in duration, it afforded an opportunity for beginners to learn the craft of knitting from instructor Gail Moore, or just get together to knit and visit with others.
"Those who know how to knit are trying different things ‹ options with various types of needles (double-pointed, circular or straight)," Moore said.
"Most of these people know more about knitting than I do," she said.
She also said she was somewhat surprised this year to see a teenage girl wishing to learn the craft.
"This is a nice way for people to see if it's something they really want to get into," said coordinator Triana.
"With Community Schools, there's always something to do."
Classes generally follow the school year with a fall term in October, November and the first part of December; a winter term from January until spring break; and a spring term from the break until the end of the school year.
Information on class offerings and fees can be obtained online at www.kpbsd.k12. ak.us/communityschools or by calling 262-6768.
