Across the road from Haas Fine Arts at the start of Water Street is an office. Within that office lies a realm of opportunity not just for adults, but also for
students. Anyone can step inside and explore what they have to better a career, or just what kids can do on an empty Saturday afternoon.

Through UW-Eau Claire’s Continuing Education program, students can participate in musical, leadership, educational and adventure courses. The
newest opportunity is an archery workshop, Marketing Manager Laurie St. Aubin-Whelihan said. It is offered on Feb. 11 and 18 at the Environmental Adventure Center.

But for the professionals in the Eau Claire community, big changes are in store.

Current and approaching courses include a foot and nail care business program, outdoor youth programs and basic sign language.

The new foot and nail care business program is for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses who have previously attended the Foot and Nail Care education course,  St. Aubin-Whelihan said.

In the educational course, the students learn how to properly care for and treat patients who may have health issues with their feet. The business course branches off of that and teaches the students how to start their own foot and nail care business, according to the Continuing Education website.

“There’s a growing opportunity in this area with more elderly people, and foot problems are unfortunately on the rise,” St. Aubin-Whelihan said.

Foot and nail care is often overlooked in nursing education, so this business course is a good opportunity for nurses, according to the website. The class will be on Feb. 15 at the Ramada Convention Center in Eau Claire.

Continuing Education offers a variety of programs for all ages. The general programs are business, education, health care, human services, nonprofit, personal enrichment, speech-language pathology and youth.

It is a place for anyone in the community who wants to better themselves personally or professionally, Human Resources Assistant Jessica Barnier said. Some courses range from Digital Storytelling to Nonprofit Leadership and Supervisory Management. The Continuing Education website lists every course offered this year.

One course that has already begun is the basic sign language course.

“It’s basically for community members or family members, teachers, health care professionals, and others for whom knowing some basic sign language would be beneficial,” St. Aubin-Whelihan said.

Continuing Education provides courses that last for just a couple sessions to a full semester. The courses take place around the Eau Claire area as well as online, Barnier said. They work to accommodate the students’ lives because many of them are busy people who may have full-time jobs and children.

Some of them already graduated from high school or received their undergraduate degrees and are taking classes to better themselves.

While it is partnered with UW-Eau Claire, the classes Continuing Education provides do not offer credit.

“Any program that we offer for academic credit is through the appropriate college campus,” she said.

St. Aubin-Whelihan said Continuing Education students mostly take classes for fun or to improve their careers. Barnier echoed her statement as well.

“Anybody could look at our courses and say, ‘Wow that sounds like something I want to learn,’” Barnier said.