Start Your Journey Toward Eco-Friendly Outdoor Living!

Curious about creating beautiful, sustainable gardens but not sure where to start? This beginner-friendly course is designed to help you confidently step into the world of landscape design with a focus on environmentally responsible practices. Learn how to plan, plant, and care for outdoor spaces that are not only attractive and functional — but also good for the planet.

No prior experience needed — just a passion for nature and a desire to make your space more sustainable!

In This Course, You’ll Learn:

• The basics of landscape design — layout, color, texture, and structure
• How to choose the right plants for your climate and soil
• Simple ways to save water and reduce waste in your garden
• How to support pollinators and local wildlife with native plants
• Garden styles that are both beautiful and eco-friendly (like drought-tolerant, edible, or low-maintenance designs)
• Easy, step-by-step projects to transform your yard or balcony

Why You’ll Love It:

• No jargon — everything is explained in simple, easy-to-follow language
• Hands-on activities 
• Practical tips for gardens of all sizes, including small urban spaces
• Guidance from friendly, experienced instructors 

By the end of this course, you’ll have the confidence and knowledge to start designing your own sustainable garden — one that reflects your style, supports the environment, and grows more beautiful over time.

Who Should Attend:
Landscape professionals, master gardeners, groundskeepers, nursery staff, and homeowners with an interest in sustainable gardening.

Format: In-person at the Cape Cod Community College, Hyannis Center location, 540 Main St., Hyannis.

Questions? Contact Elaine Brown at ebrown@capecod.edu or 508-375-5017.  

Are you juggling multiple balls in the air with your busy professional and/or personal life? Are you always trying to develop strategies that can help you to navigate and manage your stress well?

During this course you will learn an innovative approach and practical strategies to help you to navigate your life by managing stress. We will explore current symptoms of stress, stressors, triggers, and thought traps and learn positive and practical strategies for managing and re-framing by exploring current skills. Give yourself a gift and join us. Continue to be a lifelong learner and promote positive wellbeing skills through managing stress that will enhance your life.

Outline of Course:

• Learn the basics of stress
• Identify stressors, sources of stress, and triggers
• Develop positive strategies to manage stress
• Develop a results-oriented stress management plan
• Learn a 6-step approach to manage stress - anywhere!

Course Format: 
You can participate in this course via Zoom while eating lunch at your desk, walking on the beach, or in the woods. Just carve out a time and place that works for you.

Questions?
Contact Elaine Brown at ebrown@capecod.edu or 508-375-5017.

This engaging lecture explores the principles and practices of xeriscaping—a sustainable landscaping approach that reduces water use, enhances biodiversity, and mitigates the effects of urban development. Participants will examine the role of native and non-native drought-tolerant plants in creating resilient landscapes that align with regional climate cycles. Emphasis will be placed on sustainability, climate adaptation, and the ecological implications of plant selection.

The session also addresses the urban heat island (UHI) effect, illustrating how thoughtful xeriscape design can reduce surface temperatures, improve microclimates, and contribute to overall urban resilience. Through case studies and practical examples, attendees will learn how to integrate xeriscaping strategies in residential, commercial, and public spaces to conserve resources, support pollinators, and enhance aesthetic value while adapting to shifting climate patterns.

Whether you're a landscape professional, city planner, student, or homeowner, this lecture will provide the tools and insights needed to implement effective, climate-smart landscapes in a variety of environments.

Key Topics Covered:

• Fundamentals of xeriscaping and water-wise design
• Benefits and considerations of native vs. non-native plant species and pollinators.
• Understanding regional climate cycles and precipitation trends
• Mitigating the Urban Heat Island effect through landscape design
• Soil health, mulching, and efficient irrigation methods
• Real-world examples of successful xeriscape projects

Who Should Attend:
Landscape professionals, master gardeners, groundskeepers, nursery staff, and homeowners with an interest in sustainable gardening.

Format: In-person at the Cape Cod Community College, Hyannis Center location, 540 Main St., Hyannis.

Questions? Contact Elaine Brown at ebrown@capecod.edu or 508-375-5017. 

Strengthen judgment and problem-solving with practical tools grounded in everyday psychology and clear-thinking strategies. This workshop explores how stress, emotion, and mental shortcuts shape the way people make decisions, and how simple, evidence-supported techniques can boost focus and clarity. Participants learn straightforward decision frameworks that help them sort information, weigh options, and choose next steps with confidence. Through realistic scenarios, they practice making decisions that are faster, clearer, and more effective.

Ideal for: Managers, professionals, analysts, educators, emerging leaders.

Take away: A decision-mapping template and a cognitive-bias checklist.

Format: In-person at the Cape Cod Community College, Hyannis Center location, 540 Main St., Hyannis.

Questions: Contact Elaine Brown at ebrown@capecod.edu or 508-375-5017. 

ASL is a visual gestural language that is a native language among deaf individuals. This class is geared towards people who are new to American Sign Language or those who have an elementary introduction and wish to expand their knowledge. The goal is to take students with little or no knowledge of ASL and Deaf Culture and provide them with the skills needed to communicate comfortably in a variety of situations in the Deaf community.

This course is for those who have no experience with ASL or who need a refresher on the basics. Learn the ASL manual alphabet, numbers, greetings, feelings, expressions, family, time, clothes, body parts, and other basic conversational tools.

Course Format: 
This course is offered in person. 

Questions?
Contact Elaine Brown, Program Coordinator, at ebrown@capecod.edu or 508-375-5017.

Do you feel like you're burning the candle from both ends? Are you craving time to feel more balance, energy, and excitement? During this zoom session we will explore what burnout is, how it is affecting you, how to acknowledge and manage these feelings, and how to set priorities and boundaries.

We will look at how to notice and reframe the narrative you may be experiencing, and ways to integrate personal time into your daily life so that you feel refreshed and engage with renewed energy. You will leave this session with a plan that includes reframing your thoughts, and goals and strategies for change.

Goal: To understand and manage burnout for renewed energy

You will learn:

• What burnout is and ways to change and manage the narrative
• How burnout affects you
• How to set boundaries and priorities
• Strategies to become refreshed with renewed energy

Course format:
This class is offered using Zoom.

Questions?
Contact Elaine Brown, Program Coordinator, at ebrown@capecod.edu or 508-375-5017.

Take a productive break and join us mid-day for a 1-hour, lunchtime mini session on PowerPoint! This quick and practical overview will walk you through how to set up, lay out, and format a presentation using the Slide Master. Whether you prefer to watch or follow along, you’ll gain useful tips to make your slides look polished and professional.

Stick around after the session for a brief Q&A—bring your questions!

Course Format:
This course is offered live using Zoom.

Questions?
Contact Elaine Brown, Program Coordinator, at ebrown@capecod.edu or 508-375-5017. 

Reclaim Your Time! Are you constantly trying to get things done? Are you struggling to accomplish all the things that need to happen? Are you looking for more balance in your life, while getting to do the things you enjoy?

Did you know most people do not use a time management system? Are you looking for a time management system that is results-oriented and supports you to become more organized, efficient, effective?

Join us for this time management course where you will learn a system that really works: from identifying and eliminating time wasters, determining priorities, creating lists that really work, prioritizing, breaking up and managing large and small projects, tips for digital and paper planning, and developing daily habits that will support your needs to accomplish what is most important to you professionally and personally.

This course will support the balance in your life that you have been craving.

Goal: To learn a result-oriented time management system that will support getting more accomplished for a more balanced life.

Participants will learn to:

• Develop positive time management strategies and systems that really work
• Identify and eliminate time wasters· Understand priorities
• Set daily goals
• Prioritize what needs to be accomplished
• Calendar
• Develop to do lists
• Develop daily habits to support managing personal and professional time
• Plan time digitally and on paper

Class Format
This course is offered live via Zoom. 

Questions?
Contact Elaine Brown, Program Coordinator, at 508-375-5017 or ebrown@capecod.edu.