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Wellness Courses New This Spring at Keene State

KEENE, N.H. 12/21/01 - The new year can become a healthier one for you by taking wellness and nutrition courses at Keene State College. The Continuing Education Office is offering a new series of courses ranging from stress management to meditation along with vegan cooking and nutritional shopping.

“Stress Management” helps develop skills and techniques to cope with high- stress situations in both personal and working environments. Becky Brown, associate professor of physical education, takes a light-hearted, holistic approach to becoming centered and stress-resilient. This non-credit course takes place on Saturday, April 6 and 13, from 8:30 to 12:30 p.m. Cost is $99.

“Supermarket Smarts” provides a hands-on lesson for packing the healthiest grocery cart for your personal needs. Nutrition professionals lead an aisle- by-aisle tour of a local supermarket to help shoppers make sense of all the nutrition confusion on packaging labels. The 2.5-hour class takes place at either Shaw’s Supermarket or Hannaford Super Store, both in Keene, with dates and times to be arranged. Cost is $40 per class.

The kitchen becomes the classroom for students who register for nutrition courses this spring. All courses show students how to incorporate healthy eating into their daily lifestyle.

“Vegan Cooking and Nutrition” explains how to meet the nutritional challenge of cooking without meat, fish, eggs, dairy, and cheese. Professional chef Joel Stapleton teaches both sessions of this non-credit course. Each session costs $125 and is offered on Mondays from 6 to 8 p.m. Session one meets Jan. 28, Feb. 4, and Feb. 11. The second session meets Feb. 25, March 4, and March 11. The second session builds on information from the first session, but it is not required to take one session before the other. People can benefit from taking either or both sessions.

Keene State health science instructor Karrie Kalich will offer three other nutritional cooking classes as one-credit weekend courses. Each course provides a hands-on-approach to learning and students may indulge in the fruits of their labor during class. Each of the following classes takes place on Friday from 5 to 9:30 p.m. and Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

  • “Whole Grain Cooking and Health,” offered Feb. 22 and 23, explores whole grain cooking and its role in achieving health.
  • “Asian Cooking and Health,” scheduled for March 8 and 9, studies Asian health through exploration and demystification of its cuisine.
  • “Cuisine of the Sun,” offered April 12 and 13, explores the health paradox of the Mediterranean population who, despite their higher-fat diet, achieve superior health and low rates of cardiovascular disease.

A one-credit education course, “Nutrition, Learning, and Behavior” examines the effects of food and nutrition choices on student’s learning and behavior and reviews current research on the nutritional status of children and teens. This course runs on two consecutive Saturdays, April 13 and 27, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Another education course “Mindfulness Meditation” is designed as a meditative retreat where participants can practice body scan and sitting, eating, and walking meditations. The course is offered through Plymouth State College for three credits on Jan. 11-13. It will meet on Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the New England Center in Durham.

A three-credit course, “Wellness: Trends and Issues,” emphasizes a balanced, integrated, holistic model of well-being. The course focuses on application of critical thinking skills including behavior change to enhance personal wellness and professional effectiveness. This full-semester course is offered on Wednesdays, Jan. 23 to May 8, from 4:30 to 7:20 p.m.

Another full-semester course, “Advanced Special Topic: Sports Nutrition,” studies the relationship between physical fitness and nutrition. The course examines the role of nutrition in enhancing performance, achieving desired caloric balance, and preventing disease and injury. It meets Tuesdays and Thursdays, Jan. 22 to May 9, from 4:30 to 5:50 p.m.

Another Advanced Special Topic course is “Stress Management Programming,” geared towards professional instructors in the health-related field to help them organize, plan and deliver specific and structured stress-reduction exercises. The course is offered on Wednesdays, Jan. 23 to May 8, from 6:30 to 9:20 p.m.

For more information about these wellness courses, or to register, contact Keene State’s Continuing Education Office by phone at 603-358-2290 or 800-KSC-1909, by e-mail at continuing-ed@keene.edu, or on the World Wide Web at www.keene.edu/conted.

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Contact Keene State College

1-800-KSC-1909
229 Main Street
Keene, New Hampshire 03435