Lehigh Carbon Community College and Carbon Career & Technical Institute have began a partnership to bring non-credit courses to the Carbon County area this fall.

Barbara Platt, continuing education coordinator for LCCC, explained that the partnership began after CCTI opened its new facility for classes through the college."I went over and took a tour and was very impressed with the classrooms, studios and entire layout," Platt said of CCTI, located in Jim Thorpe.She noted that the northern tier of the LCCC area was lacking in continuing education courses, such as photography, fine arts, and crafts."These days when gas prices are as high as they are and keep going up, I think the people are looking for an opportunity right in their back yard," Platt added. "Our instructors are seasoned and highly skilled in their individual areas. They teach these classes out of a passion and enthusiasm to share what they know to people in the community."To determine the classes that would be offered, LCCC sent surveys through the five school districts. The surveys were sent home with students for parents to fill out and return."We had a fairly good response," she said.After surveys were collected, LCCC determined that four classes would be the best starting point.Adults who would like to take a non-credit course for fun now has the option of Trompe L'Oeil, an art technique course involving optical illusions; Crocheting; Knitting; and Creating Visually Stunning Images. The courses will run one day a week beginning Oct. 1."We wanted to start small and see if we could get this off the ground," Platt said, adding that if these courses go over well in the community, LCCC will offer more in the spring, and possibly look at expanding the schedule.Platt said that she is always looking for feedback as well as suggestions for potential new classes. If you would like to provide suggestions, Platt can be reached at (610) 799-1582 or

bplatt@lccc.edu.To sign up for the four courses at CCTI orfor more information on each course, visit

http://www.lccc.edu/node/2453 or call (610) 799-1197.