Workplace Skills   

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 Green River’s 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 informational session. Registration is required in order to attend this FREE information session.

A Zoom link will be sent to your email on file no less than 24 hours before the start of the course. Please check your spam & junk folders or call us at 206 934 5339 for assistance.

This course is offered in partnership with Green River College Continuing Education.

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.

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Familiarize yourself with Excel's layout, its various parts, its commands, and its terminology.
• Outline Excel's abilities to quickly, efficiently, and accurately calculate data.
• Update worksheets without throwing away all of the valuable work you've already done.
• Format a worksheet and organize your data.
• Print workbooks.
• Manage the overall structure of your workbooks.

 

Pre-requisite: Basic computer skills

Course fee includes physical textbook.

Please note: lunch will be held 12pm-12:30pm; bring a sack lunch or check out our on-campus dining options, the Alki Café or Culinary Convenience Store.

This mini-series is a practical leadership development course designed to develop the essential skills needed to lead with confidence, strengthen team performance, and foster a positive workplace culture.

These 5 courses will equip current and aspiring supervisors with practical tools to communicate effectively, manage conflict constructively, apply emotional intelligence, plan and prioritize work efficiently, and foster teamwork and collaboration.

Participants will gain actionable strategies to build strong working relationships, navigate workplace challenges, improve productivity, and lead teams more successfully.

• Communicate Effectively (4hrs): Demonstrate clear, concise, and respectful communication in both verbal and written forms, while actively listening and adjusting communication styles for diverse audiences.
• Manage Conflict Constructively (4hrs): Identify sources of workplace conflict, apply resolution strategies, and foster a positive environment through mediation and problem-solving.
• Emotional Intelligence (4hrs): Helps leaders recognize and manage their own emotions, understand the emotions of others, and use that awareness to communicate effectively, resolve conflict, and lead teams more successfully.
• Plan and Prioritize Work Efficiently (4hrs): Set clear objectives, manage time and resources effectively, and prioritize tasks based on urgency, importance and alignment with strategic goals.
• Foster Teamwork and Collaboration (4hrs): Promote team cohesion, shared responsibility, and collaboration by leveraging individual strengths, encouraging diverse perspectives, and facilitating inclusive practices.

Expressing differing opinions, arguing, and talking about conflicting ideas are all normal and necessary social behaviors. But often, broaching difficult topics in a clear and honest way is so anxiety-inducing, we choose not to do it at all.

This course aims to examine a more positive side of conflict. We will learn and practice different debating styles from impromptu speech to Lincoln Douglass debate, find out how to spot fallacies and how to engage with them, and practice emotional moderation when a debate doesn’t go our way.

This class is for anyone who struggles to express their opinions, feels uncomfortable with argument, or simply wants to brush up on their debate skills! In this class, students can expect to sharpen their speaking, reasoning, and argument skills in a fun and low-stakes environment. We will learn the most popular debate styles, practice them in mock-debate, and debrief after each session.

Upon successful completion of this course, you will gain a heightened understanding of, and appreciation for, conflicting ideas and your ability to express your own.

This 5-session course helps professionals manage stress, prevent burnout, and protect their energy in demanding work environments. Participants learn how stress impacts the body and mind and build practical skills to stay focused, regulated, and effective throughout the workday. By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Recognize early signs of stress and burnout
• Apply simple techniques to regulate the nervous system in real time
• Set clear boundaries to protect time and energy
• Improve focus and decision making under pressure
• Build daily habits that support long term resilience and performance

A Zoom link will be sent to your email on file no less than 24 hours before the start of the course. Please check your spam & junk folders or call us at 206 934 5339 for assistance.

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. 

Part A includes the first three of seven required courses. Project Management Part A is offered each Fall & Spring quarter. This can be a stand-alone class or students can apply it toward a full Project Management Certificate by also enrolling in and completing Project Management Part B (offered in Winter quarter).

Project Management Part A includes (51 total hours)

• Project Management Basics: Initiating the Project– 15 hours
• Project Planning and Scheduling Essentials– 21 hours
• Project Execution to Closing– 15 hours

To earn the Project Management Certificate, you must take all seven required courses; attend 80 percent of the first six courses (based on number of sessions in each course) and 100 percent of the Capstone course; and participate in class. Please note: Saturday sessions over four hours in length count as two sessions.

Click on this link for details about the complete Project Management Certificate offered in partnership with Green River College. South Seattle College will open enrollment for Part B approximately two months prior to the start date. 

Recommended textbook: The PMBOK® Guide - 7th Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2021, ISBN-13: 978-1628256642

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

A Zoom link will be sent to your email on file no less than 24 hours before the start of the course. Please check your spam & junk folders or call us at 206 934 5339 for assistance.

This course is offered in partnership with Green River College Continuing Education.

Learn the ins and outs of this design platform for creating graphics for social media, blogs, websites, and other visual content such as presentations and even book publishing. We will also cover built-in video creation and AI tools. Utilize this platform effectively for both personal and professional content needs. No graphic design background required. Students need a free or paid Canva account set up before class. This is a hands-on class.

A Zoom link will be sent to your email on file no less than 24 hours before the start of the course. Please check your spam & junk folders or call us at 206 934 5339 for assistance.

This course is offered in partnership with North Seattle College Continuing Education.

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. Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Work with functions.
• Work with lists.
• Analyze data.
• Visualize data with charts.
• Use PivotTables and PivotCharts.

 

Pre-requisite: Excel 365 Level 1 or equivalent 

Course fee includes physical textbook.

Please note: lunch will be held 12pm-12:30pm; bring a sack lunch or check out our on-campus dining options, the Alki Café or Culinary Convenience Store.

Strong communication skills can open doors to new career opportunities and help you thrive in the workplace. This course prepares students with practical communication strategies for every stage of their employment journey, from interviewing and networking to collaborating with coworkers, communicating with supervisors, and handling workplace challenges with confidence.

Through real-world examples, discussions, and hands-on activities, participants will strengthen verbal and written communication skills while building confidence to succeed in today's professional workplace.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Communicate professionally during interviews and networking opportunities.
• Build positive relationships with supervisors, coworkers, and customers.
• Practice healthy workplace boundaries and communication expectations.
• Write professional workplace emails and messages.
• Navigate difficult workplace conversations with confidence.
• Demonstrate effective listening, teamwork, and conflict resolution skills.
• Apply communication strategies that support long-term career success

A Zoom link will be sent to your email on file no less than 24 hours before the start of the course. Please check your spam & junk folders or call us at 206 934 5339 for assistance.

Whether you lead a team, run a business, or manage projects across departments, you already know: the work is rarely the hard part—the people part is. This course introduces eight practical, easy-to-use "Habit Bricks" that help you build trust, improve communication, and lead more effective teams.

You'll learn how to turn vague conversations into clear agreements, address tension before it becomes conflict, and ask the kinds of questions that make people feel heard and engaged. As you progress, you'll develop the skills to run stronger meetings, draw out quieter voices, surface disagreement early, and know when to step in—or step back—to help your team succeed.

Through theatre techniques, improv, neuroscience-informed practice, and live simulations, you'll build leadership muscle memory before the stakes are real. You'll also learn how to use AI as a personal practice partner, rehearsing difficult conversations in a safe environment until confidence becomes second nature.

By the end, these eight Habit Bricks won't be techniques in a notebook—they'll be reflexes you'll use every day. No prerequisites, no textbook. Students should bring a laptop, phone or tablet for the AI exercises.

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. Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Identify the basic features and functions of PowerPoint.
• Develop a PowerPoint presentation.
• Perform text formatting.
• Add and arrange graphical elements.
• Modify graphical elements.
• Prepare to deliver your presentation.

 

Pre-requisite: Basic computer skills

Course fee includes physical textbook.

AI tools are easy to access. Using them well in your actual work is a different thing.

This three-week course focuses on building a small, reliable set of AI habits you can put to work immediately. Each session is practical and hands-on, with exercises drawn from everyday professional tasks, such as writing, summarizing, thinking through decisions, and preparing for conversations.

You don't need a technical background to get something real out of this. Whether you've never opened an AI tool or you use one occasionally but inconsistently, you'll leave each session with something concrete you can try before the next one.

By the end of the series, you'll have a clear sense of where AI genuinely helps, where it doesn't, and how to stay in control of what it produces. That confidence comes from practice, not from memorizing features.

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. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: 

• 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.

 

Pre-requisite: Basic computer skills

Course fee includes physical textbook.

Ready to go beyond the basics? This hands-on online class is designed for students who already use Canva and want to explore its more advanced features and latest updates.

We’ll take a deeper dive into tools that help you design faster, stay consistent, and create more polished, professional content. You’ll explore newer features, hidden tools, and workflow tips that make a big difference in how you use Canva day to day.

Whether you’re creating content for social media, marketing, or personal projects, this class will help you get more out of the platform without overcomplicating your process.

You’ll leave with practical skills, updated techniques, and a better understanding of what Canva can really do. Students will need a Canva Pro account set up before class; this class is hands-on.

A Zoom link will be sent to your email on file no less than 24 hours before the start of the course. Please check your spam & junk folders or call us at 206 934 5339 for assistance.

This course is offered in partnership with North Seattle College Continuing Education.

This 5-session course teaches mindfulness-based tools to manage anxiety and build a greater sense of calm and clarity. Participants develop awareness of thought patterns and learn how to respond to stress with intention. By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Understand how anxiety shows up in thoughts and the body
• Practice grounding techniques to reduce overwhelm
• Build awareness of triggers and automatic reactions
• Strengthen attention and present moment focus
• Create a simple, sustainable mindfulness practice for daily life

A Zoom link will be sent to your email on file no less than 24 hours before the start of the course. Please check your spam & junk folders or call us at 206 934 5339 for assistance.

Tired to your bones? Knees creaking like attic stairs, neck aching every time you move? This course aims to reimagine the movements, techniques, and physical expectations surrounding manual labor, empowering students to take confident control of their own body in the workplace.

All too often, physically taxing jobs expect constant athletic prowess and repetitive motion, often in inclement situations, with very little recovery time. Simply stretching for a few minutes every day is just not enough, and a 'can-do' mentality with a side of Gatorade only gets you so far.

In Labor In Motion, students will learn basic physiology, study a wide and global range of movement and strength-building techniques, reexamine what it means to protect one's body in the labor field, and create and learn to uphold their own individual safety plan. We'll learn new ways to balance weight, new ways to lift and move, and study everything from which boots to wear for what feet, to how we can wear head protection without annoyance and pain.

This class is best for: construction workers / nurses and CNAs / plumbers / massage therapists / traffic flaggers / electricians / and more

CapCut is powerful, and surprisingly easy once you know what buttons to press. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn how to edit a short-form video from start to finish—cut clips, add music, captions, transitions, effects, and export for any platform.

Paid CapCut Pro account required.

A Zoom link will be sent to your email on file no less than 24 hours before the start of the course. Please check your spam & junk folders or call us at 206 934 5339 for assistance.

This course is offered in partnership with North Seattle College Continuing Education.

Want to start YouTube but don’t know where to begin? This one’s for you. Learn how to create a channel, write killer titles, upload your first video, and design eye-catching thumbnails in Canva. We’ll also peek into YouTube Studio and cover basic analytics.

YouTube account required.

Free or paid Canva Account required.

A Zoom link will be sent to your email on file no less than 24 hours before the start of the course. Please check your spam & junk folders or call us at 206 934 5339 for assistance.

This course is offered in partnership with North Seattle College Continuing Education.

Discover what it takes to put your talents to work as a Graphic Designer. In this free information session, learn about the graphic design profession, including employment rates, the type of work available and earning potential, as well as Green River's new Graphic Design Certificate Program. Registration is required in order to attend this FREE information session.

A Zoom link will be sent to your email on file no less than 24 hours before the start of the course. Please check your spam & junk folders or call us at 206 934 5339 for assistance.

This course is offered in partnership with Green River College Continuing Education.

In Part 1 of this 3-part Graphic Design program, turn your design ideas into income-ready creations!

In Part 1, you will gain hands on experience working with Adobe Photoshop and Acrobat. Start by mastering Photoshop Essentials, such as layers, masking, and retouching, like a pro.

Then unleash your creativity with eye-catching graphics for tumblers, totes, and more. Get laser-focused (literally!) as you prep grayscale, cut-ready files to pair with Cricut or Glowforge supplementary technology, crafting a stunning wood-burn portrait or engraving panel along the way.

Wrap it up with Acrobat & PDF Essentials, building polished fillable forms and print-ready documents, like a vendor order form your clients will love. Whether you're a hobbyist, entrepreneur, or upskilling for your career, this is your launchpad into designing and producing polished projects.

Prerequisites: Basic computer skills and Windows proficiency.

Graphic Design Part 1 is comprised of:
Photo Editing & PDF Production Certificate (24 hours)

• Photoshop Essentials - Interface, layers, selections, masking, retouching, and saving files for web and print.
• Photoshop Creative Effects - Lighting effects, textures, blending modes, and special finishes.
• Laser & Engraving Files - Grayscale/bitmap conversion, contrast preparation, and exporting files for laser cutters and Cricut machines.
• Acrobat & PDF Essentials - Creating, combining, and exporting professional PDFs. Fillable forms and print-ready file prep.

Recommended Textbooks
Adobe Classroom in a Book (2026 release, price typically runs $40-60/book)

Required Software
Participants are required to purchase a student version of Adobe CC for use during class as well as to practice and reinforce the skills learned. Additional information on how to purchase a student version will be provided by the instructor in the first session.

Program Completion
To earn the Graphic Design Part 1 certificate (aka the Photo Editing & PDF Production Certificate) you must: 

1. Not miss more than one class session
2. Participate in class
3. Complete all the required courses and assignments

To earn the full Graphic Design Essential Skills Certificate, you must participate in class and complete all requirements for Parts 1-3.

Enrollment for Parts 2 & 3 will open closer to Winter & Spring quarter, respectively. 

A Zoom link will be sent to your email on file no less than 24 hours before the start of the course. Please check your spam & junk folders or call us at 206 934 5339 for assistance.

This course is offered in partnership with Green River College Continuing Education.