BEDFORD - The Community Education Program at Bedford High School has been expanded this winter to include nine classes, ranging from Photoshop for beginners to water color painting and cooking.

Susan Sambrano was hired by the district to run the year-old program; the first time a position has been dedicated to the Community Education Program.

Sambrano said the classes allow people to make new friends and contacts. "Part of adult education is it's a wonderful way to network and meet people," she said. "I want the evening to feel lively here. I want people to use the opportunity to network."

She's boosting the marketing capacity of the program by providing flyers and business cards to the teachers. Half of the instructors are faculty at Bedford High School and half are local artists and professionals.

The non credit-bearing classes include Spanish, French, American Sign Language, basic cooking, Getting to Know Your Camera, Photoshop, water color painting and financial planning.

Getting to Know your Camera will be taught by Joe Peppin, an avid photographer for 54 years. "He is just a fantastic guy with a cool background," Sambrano said. "For a year he served as a national park ranger at Rainbow Bridge National Monument in Utah and his photos are outstanding. He's just an exciting guy."

The sign language course will be taught by fully licensed teacher Eva McElwain, who has been signing and interacting with deaf community for more than ten years.

Kevin Dadoly will teach the course in water color painting. According to KevinDadoly.com, the artist's website, he is color blind and, "intuitively feels and intimately knows the meaning of color."

The cooking class is intended for newbies in the kitchen or those looking to brush up on their skills. Students will cook hand-broiled steak with red wine shallot sauce, potato leak soup, and some simple desserts.

Courses vary in length and duration; some last six weeks, others last eight; some last two hours, others last one and a half. They are priced on a subsistence level, meant to pay for themselves, ranging from $72 to $128 per course, or $8 per instructional hour.

All courses unless otherwise noted take place at the Bedford High School, 47B Nashua Road.

More information about the program and a listing of courses are available at bit.ly/TqR2Xx.

For more, contact Susan Sambrano at sambranos@sau25.net, or by phone at 603-310-9000, ext. 3127.

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