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Join us for a free information session. During this session, the Leadership and Supervision Instructor will discuss how this certificate will help you acquire the interpersonal skills needed to interact successfully in a supervisory role. Registration required.

See overview to learn more about this Certificate.

Project Managers are in high demand. In this free information session, our project management instructor will discuss the project management industry, the project management profession and the newly revised Project Management Certificate Program. If you have been thinking about taking courses to formalize your PM understanding, making a career change or learning tangible skills to help you stand out in your current role, join us for this free informational session. This class is offered in partnership with Green River College. Registration required. 

View program Project Management Certificate Overview.

Develop your leadership, communication, motivation, and problem-solving skills with the Supervision Certificate. Through a series of six courses, you will acquire the interpersonal skills needed to interact successfully in a supervisory role. Topics include turning negative situations into positive outcomes; identifying your leadership traits through personal assessment; leading effective meetings; providing feedback; establishing priorities; problem-solving techniques, and more! This class is offered in partnership with Green River College. 

See overview to learn more about this Certificate. Earn the certificate by taking the courses individually or register for the series and save.
 

We all encounter difficult people. Whether you are a supervisor, a customer service professional, or you have a challenging coworker, it's important to know how to rise above your initial emotional reaction and turn negative situations into positive outcomes. Topics include understanding why we label people as difficult; types of difficult people; tools and techniques for resolving issues; coping strategies for the effects of difficult people; conflict management strategies; and practical application. This class is offered in partnership with Green River College.

For more information, please refer to our course outline.

This is the first course in the Supervision Certificate (6 Class Series).

Join this free information session to learn about the HR Generalist Certificate! Registration is required.

View Certificate Information and Outline. 

Discover the science and art of effective project management, and learn why 75 percent of all projects fail! Summarize the five Process Groups, 10 Knowledge Areas and 49 processes recommended for application in the PMBOK® Guide (Project Management Body of Knowledge). Learn about the Initiating Process Group, and discover how to develop a business case, create a Project Charter, identify and document stakeholders and effectively present a project to decision-makers using a winning methodology. This class is offered in partnership with Green River College.

Acquire the skills to manage projects in a variety of industries. Our seven required courses give you the tools and techniques to deliver projects on time and within budget. In Part A, you'll get a broad overview of project management and then delve deeper into the five project management processes: Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling and Closing. Courses include team activities, insightful discussion and a toolkit you can immediately utilize. This class is offered in partnership with Green River College.

Please note: Students must complete all seven courses offered in Part A and Part B to earn a Certificate of Completion. If you are interested in registering for an individual course, please reach out to communityed@pencol.edu. 

View program requirements prior to registering.

Continue learning the third most commonly used language in the United States, American Sign Language! Build on the basics in this continuation class. This is a great class if you've taken ASL for Beginners 1 with us, or if you have some foundational knowledge of ASL including the alphabet, numbers and greetings. 

Open to students 16 years of age and up. 

Please see Student Learning Outcomes and CEU Process. 

This level focuses on increasing Spanish vocabulary and using interactive practice of pronunciation through dialogue and role-play. Students develop meaningful appreciation and an understanding of grammatical concepts. To complement the language skills, the student will acquire survival key points for traveling and knowledge about the cuisine of Spanish-speaking cultures. This course now includes access to Canvas for easy reference to learning documents!

Prerequisite: Spanish Language 1 or equivalent experience. Students with some basic Spanish speaking experience are welcome and encouraged to sign up for this class. Students will learn how to express opinions and have basic casual conversations, understand familiar topics, and hold conversations about routines, travels, experiences and hobbies.

Open to students 16 years of age and up, or by permission by instructor. Students taking this class for Continuing Education Units (CEUs) must attend 80% of classes. Email communityed@pencol.edu for your CEU Verification Letter at the completion of class.

Learning Outcomes:

• Build on basic sentence structure 
• Emphasis on conversation 
• Grammar and vocabulary 
• Cultural immersion 
• Practical application scenarios  

Build on your existing Spanish skills to reach an intermediate level of comprehension, vocabulary, and idioms. This course strengthens your ability to understand and speak through practical scenarios, encouraging you to apply your skills in real-life contexts. You’ll also enjoy virtual travel experiences that showcase the rich cultures of Spain, Central America, and South America. This course now includes access to Canvas for easy reference to learning documents!

Prerequisite: Spanish Language 2 or equivalent experience. Students with a background who are able to hold a conversation in Spanish are welcome and encouraged to sign up for this class. Students will be taught to negotiate, persuade, request and express themselves effectively. 

Open to students 16 years of age and up, or by permission by instructor. Students taking this class for Continuing Education Units (CEUs) must attend 80% of classes. Email communityed@pencol.edu for your CEU Verification Letter at the completion of class.

Learning Outcomes:

• Enhanced vocabulary 
• Improved communication skills 
• Cultural exploration 
• Develop effective sentence structures
• Practical application scenarios  

Learn how to capitalize on your personal leadership style to achieve workplace goals. In this course, you will identify your leadership through personal assessment; learn the difference between leadership and management; recognize the "being" and "doing" of leadership; and develop the innate motivating techniques that transform employee attitudes and enhance cooperation and teamwork. Other topics include understanding the leadership management balance and SMART goal development. This class is offered in partnership with Green River College.

For more information, please refer to our course outline.

This is the second course in the Supervision Certificate (6 Class Series).

Learn the third most commonly used language in the United States, American Sign Language! We will start at the beginning and build a foundation in the language and culture of the Deaf in the United States and most of Canada. No previous knowledge of ASL or Deaf culture needed, we will provide you with the basics and build upon those skills.

Open to students 16 years of age and up. 

Please see Student Learning Outcomes and CEU Process.

Discover the joys of learning Spanish with a native speaker in this engaging 8-week course! You'll build the skills needed to communicate effectively in everyday situations, gaining the confidence to hold simple conversations in Spanish. Whether you're interested in travel, culture, or simply expanding your horizons, this course offers a dynamic environment where you can explore topics that matter to you. This course now includes access to Canvas for easy reference to learning documents!

Students with no Spanish speaking experience are welcome and encouraged to sign up for this class. Students will learn to ask and answer basic questions (name, nationality, preferences) and understand simple, slow speech conversations in predictable contexts. 

Learning Outcomes:

• Elementary Spanish vocabulary and phrases
• Basic grammar
• Emphasis on beginning conversation
• Cultural overview 
• Basic conversation scenarios
   

Join us to start your Spanish language journey and connect with a vibrant culture! Open to students 16 years of age and up, or by permission by instructor. Students taking this class for Continuing Education Units (CEUs) must attend 80% of classes. Email communityed@pencol.edu for your CEU Verification Letter at the completion of class.

If you've already taken Spanish 1, consider signing up for Spanish 2. 

As an HR Generalist you are expected to be an expert in every human resource function including hiring, compensation, payroll, performance management, employment laws (FMLA, ADA, COBRA, etc.) and much more. Through lecture, discussion and activities, this program will help prepare you to effectively serve in an HR Generalist role. Additionally, you will be equipped with tools to assist you as you encounter situations in today's workplace. This class is offered in partnership with Green River College.

See course requirements and outline.

Organize, calculate, analyze, revise, update, and present your data in ways that help the decision makers in your organization. This course provides you with a foundation for Excel knowledge and skills, which you can build upon to eventually become an expert in data analysis.

Required: 

• Access to Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Excel for Office 365 (Desktop or Online) Part 1 (appx. $30.12)

Please see CEU procedure and Student Learning Outcomes.
 

Discover why some meetings fail and learn proven techniques for making meetings more productive. Gain tips related to the four essentials of productive meetings: planning, participating, presenting and producing. Other topics include meeting formats and when to vary them, responding to conflict in a meeting and meeting follow-through. A key component of this course is utilizing effective communication strategies before, during and after your meetings.

For more information, please refer to our course outline.

This is the third course in the Supervision Certificate (6 Class Series).

This class prepares students to receive a Flagger Certification card, which is valid for three years in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. Students must be at least 18 years old and bring a valid State ID card or Driver's License to the class. There is an open-book test at the end of class, in which you must have a passing score of 80% to receive your certification.

Course Details:

• The class is full-day for full certification and partial-day for recertification. We do not offer shorter recertification classes at this time unless you request Customized Training for a full class of recertifications. Contact communityed@pencol.edu or 360-417-5683 for more information.
• Students receive a Traffic Control Flagger Certification Handbook (yours to keep and reference on the job).
• Students take an open-book test at the end of the class.
• Successful completers receive a Flagger Certification Card.
• Students must be at least 18 years of age.

Want more creative, motivated employees who are eager to work hard and satisfy both internal and external customers? Good leaders empower their employees to feel confident, valued and motivated. In this course discover what motivates people, how to resuscitate motivation and how personality affects motivation. You will also learn how to give clear and motivating directions, set realistic and achievable standards and provide effective feedback, praising good results and correcting unsatisfactory performance. This class is offered in partnership with Green River College.

For more information, please refer to our course outline.

This is the fourth course in the Supervision Certificate (6 Class Series).

It is said, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Discover the 24 key planning processes needed to plan and implement a successful project, and learn the order in which they should occur. Identify the key tools and techniques to effectively plan for scope, schedule, cost, quality, human resources, communications, risk, procurements and stakeholder management. This course keys on both predictive (Waterfall) and adaptive (Agile) planning techniques. This class is offered in partnership with Green River College.

Prerequisite: Project Management Basics: Initiating the Project.

TEXTBOOKS (available through Amazon)

• Required: The PMBOK® Guide - 7th Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2021, ISBN-13: 978-1628256642
• Recommended: Project Management Made Simple and Effective, Yeomans, 2016, ISBN-13: 978-1457549816

This is the second required course in the Project Management Certificate Part A (3 Class Series).

For complete details about our Project Management Certificate Program, visit our Project Management Certificate overview.
PMBOK® is a registered mark of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

Wilderness Advanced First Aid (WAFA) builds on everything found in the WFA course with increased emphasis on stabilizing and monitoring someone sick or injured over a longer duration of time, when definitive care (i.e., an ambulance, clinic or hospital) could be more than a few hours or even more than a day away. The WAFA allows time for more intensive patient assessment drills, practice scenarios and case studies.

Specific topics include:

• Critical body systems
• System for assessing a patient
• Recognizing emergencies and calling for help
• Stopping a bleed, CPR
• Moving a patient
• Musculoskeletal and spine injuries and splinting
• Wound management
• Recognizing and treating anaphylaxis
• Environmental topics such as lightening, cold and heat related injuries, water immersion and toxins
• Addressing common medical conditions in the backcountry setting
• Documentation Medical legal considerations

Certification is valid for 3 years and includes Adult, child and infant CPR following AHA/ILCOR standards. To re-certify take another WAFA course before your cert expires, or consider upgrading to a Wilderness First Responder (WFR).

Time is a valuable resource that can be costly to a company when wasted. In this course you will develop communication strategies to minimize time loss, evaluate personal and organizational time-wasters, learn to establish meaningful priorities and determine ways to deal with disruptions and unanticipated drains on time. Additional topics include schedule planning, prioritizing, delegation and large project completion. This class is offered in partnership with Green River College.

For more information, please refer to our course outline. 

This is the fifth course in the Supervision Certificate (6 Class Series).

Are you curious about how artificial intelligence (AI) is shaping our world? Join us for this engaging and accessible community education course designed to demystify AI and help you understand its impact on everyday life. From smart assistants and recommendation systems to powerful tools like ChatGPT, we'll explore how AI works, where it shows up, and how to use it responsibly.

No technical background is required! Discover the history, opportunities, and challenges of AI and gain hands-on experience with practical tools that can improve your personal and professional life. Empower yourself with knowledge in this fascinating field that's changing the world.

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

•  Understand the history, foundations, and evolution of AI.
• Define and explain common AI terms and concepts.
• Identify where AI appears in everyday life.
• Understand the ethical considerations, standards, and risks associated with AI.
• Confidently use AI tools (like ChatGPT) for personal, educational, and professional purposes.
• Develop a personal strategy for engaging with AI thoughtfully and responsibly.

This course builds upon the foundational knowledge presented in the Excel 365 Level 1 course and will help start you down the road to creating advanced workbooks and worksheets that can help deepen your understanding of organizational intelligence. The ability to analyze massive amounts of data, extract actionable information from it, and present that information to decision makers is at the foundation of a successful organization that can compete at a high level.

Prerequisite: Excel Level 1 or equivalent experience

Required: 

• Access to Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Excel for Office 365 (Desktop or Online): Part 2 (appx $30.12)

Please see CEU procedure and Student Learning Outcomes.
 

Creative problem-solving and effective decision-making skills are essential in today's workplace. Through the use of real-life case studies, discover four primary problem-solving tools, learn a format for group problem-solving, methods for effective decision-making and techniques to minimize conflict and dissension. This course concludes with an interactive problem-solving group exercise. Concepts taught in this course can be applied to all facets of life. This class is offered in partnership with Green River College.

For more information, please refer to our course outline. 

This is the sixth and final course in the Supervision Certificate (6 Class Series).

Learn how to use PivotTables to summarize, group, chart and analyze data effectively in Microsoft Excel.

Advances in technology have made it possible to store ever increasing amounts of data. Along with this, the need to analyze that data and gain actionable insight is greater than ever. You already have experience working with Excel and creating basic PivotTables to summarize data. But, Excel can do much more. Being able to harness the power of advanced PivotTable features and create Pivot Charts will help you to gain a competitive edge. You will not only be able to summarize data for you to analyze, but also organize the data in a way that can be meaningfully presented to others. This leads to data-driven business decisions that have a better chance for success for everyone involved. During this class, the instructor demonstrates the concepts while you perform the tasks at the same time.

Required: 

• Microsoft Excel for Office 365/2021: Data Analysis with PivotTables (appx $15.98)
• Access to Microsoft Excel

Pre-Requisites: Basic experience with Microsoft Excel.

Please see CEU procedure and Student Learning Outcomes.
 

We are now living in the age of big data. Data is being collected all the time and for increasingly detailed transactions. This can lead to an overwhelming amount of data, which brings about a need for people who can analyze large amounts of data quickly. Fortunately, Excel provides Power Pivot to help you organize, manipulate, and report on your data in the best way possible. Since a tool is only as good as the person using it, it is important to gain a solid understanding of Power Pivot to maximize your effectiveness when analyzing data.

Prerequisite: Excel Level 1 or equivalent experience

Required: 

• Access to Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Excel for Office 365/2021: Data Analysis with Power Pivot (appx. $15.98)

Please see CEU procedure and Student Learning Outcomes.
 

Your Project Management Plan is approved and accepted. What's next? This course shares best practices for implementing and controlling the project to success. Learn how to manage quality, develop and manage a project team, effectively communicate, manage risk and engage stakeholders. Key tools and techniques and valuable tips will be introduced, shared and applied - all to ensure that your project is successful. This class is offered in partnership with Green River College.

Prerequisite: Project Management Basics: Initiating the Project

TEXTBOOKS (available through Amazon)

• Required The PMBOK® Guide - 7th Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2021, ISBN-13: 978-1628256642
• Recommended Project Management Made Simple and Effective, Yeomans, 2016, ISBN-13: 978-1457549816

This is the third required course in the Project Management Certificate Part A (3 Class Series). For complete details about our Project Management Certificate Program, visit our Project Management Certificate overview.

PMBOK® is a registered mark of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

The evolution of technology has changed the way that HR manages many of its functions, including payroll. In this course you will learn the basics of the payroll process, how using HR technology can save time and money for your organization and the growing demand and importance of HR metrics. You will also discover state and federal recordkeeping requirements, what to keep in a personnel file and important HR technology terminology. This class is offered in partnership with Green River College.

This course is part of the HR Generalist Certificate Program (8 Class Series).

Copilot Chat is a hands on, practical course designed for adults who want to save time, work more efficiently, and feel confident using AI at work and in everyday projects. You'll learn how to use Copilot Chat to analyze files, write and refine content, generate presentations, create images, and automate common tasks - without needing technical or AI experience. Through real world examples and guided practice, you'll discover how to ask better questions, get more useful results, and use Copilot in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Whether you're new to AI or already experimenting, this course helps you turn curiosity into confidence and productivity.

This will be a live, online class offered via Zoom. It is a combination of demonstration and hands-on learning.

Student Learning Outcomes:

• Use Copilot Chat to create effective prompts and extract meaningful insights from documents and messages.
• Apply Copilot in Word to generate, revise, and summarize professional documents.
• Use Copilot in Excel to analyze data, identify trends, and create visual summaries using natural language instructions.
• Build presentations in PowerPoint by generating slides, improving structure, and creating speaker notes with Copilot.
• Improve communication in Outlook by drafting messages, summarizing conversations, and preparing meeting follow ups with Copilot.
• Create and use Copilot agents to automate tasks and support common workflows.
• Generate and refine AI images to support documents, presentations, and creative projects.

This class prepares students to receive a Flagger Certification card, which is valid for three years in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. Students must be at least 18 years old and bring a valid State ID card or Driver's License to the class. There is an open-book test at the end of class, in which you must have a passing score of 80% to receive your certification.

Course Details:

• The class is full-day for full certification and partial-day for recertification. We do not offer shorter recertification classes at this time unless you request Customized Training for a full class of recertifications. Contact communityed@pencol.edu or 360-417-5683 for more information.
• Students receive a Traffic Control Flagger Certification Handbook (yours to keep and reference on the job).
• Students take an open-book test at the end of the class.
• Successful completers receive a Flagger Certification Card.
• Students must be at least 18 years of age.

This class prepares students to receive a Flagger Certification card, which is valid for three years in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. Students must be at least 18 years old and bring a valid State ID card or Driver's License to the class. There is an open-book test at the end of class, in which you must have a passing score of 80% to receive your certification.

Course Details:

• The class is full-day for full certification and partial-day for recertification. We do not offer shorter recertification classes at this time unless you request Customized Training for a full class of recertifications. Contact communityed@pencol.edu or 360-417-5683 for more information.
• Students receive a Traffic Control Flagger Certification Handbook (yours to keep and reference on the job).
• Students take an open-book test at the end of the class.
• Successful completers receive a Flagger Certification Card.
• Students must be at least 18 years of age.

How do you grab and maintain an audience's focus when you're asked to present important information? By being clear, organized, and engaging. Today's audiences are tech savvy, accustomed to high-impact multimedia content, and stretched for time. By learning how to use the vast array of features and functionality contained within PowerPoint 365, you will gain the ability to organize your content, enhance it with high-impact visuals, and deliver it with a punch. In this course, you will use PowerPoint 365 to begin creating engaging, dynamic multimedia presentations.

Required: 

• Access to Microsoft PowerPoint
• Microsoft PowerPoint for Office 365 (Desktop or Online): Part 1 (appx $22.82)

Please see CEU procedure and Student Learning Outcomes.