LEWISTON – Lewiston Adult Education will offer more than 25 new enrichment courses during the winter/spring semester, as well as many favorites. The courses are an opportunity for area residents to get out, meet new people and develop new skills.

To help relieve energy costs this winter, LAE is offering a new course on “Making Your Home Energy Efficient.” The one-night course, taught by certified energy auditor Patrick LaBreck, will focus on the specific things a homeowner or tenant can do to decrease energy costs while increasing comfort and safety.

New arts and crafts classes will include “Introduction to Glass Mosaics,” “May Basket Floral Arrangement,” and “Create a Personalized Pop-Up Book.”

Two new trips and tours have been added to the catalogue: “An Escorted Food and Cultural Experience of Italy” and “Tea Time Treasures.”

Beginning this semester Adult Ed will offer a course on making “Traditional Greek Easter Treats.”

Along that theme, “Greek Dancing for Families” will be taught for the first time. Other new music and dance courses will include “All That Jazz,” taught by nationally acclaimed saxophonist/composer Dr. Tim O’Dell, and “Just Jazz for Beginners,” a course focusing on the elements of jazz dance.

New health and wellness classes will include “Catch Your Breath,” taught by Nurse Mary Callahan on how to manage symptoms related to COPD, emphysema, or smoker’s lung, and “Herbs for Menopausal Zest,” a hands-on course on herbal remedies for menopausal symptoms.

Adult Ed is also offering several new parenting courses such as “Getting Kids Ready to Read,” “1,2,3,4 Parents,” for parents of 1- to 4-year-olds, and “Child Safety Seminar for Parents, Caregivers and Advocates,” which focuses on how to deal with the risks children face.

Many new one-night business and finance courses are being offered this semester. Among them are “Creating Effective Teams,” “Everything You Weren’t Told about Identity Theft,” “Money Flow: How’s Yours Going?” “Running Meetings that Work,” “Small Business Financing,” “Understanding Mortgage Loans” and a two-week online course, “Search Engine Optimization for the Busy Entrepreneur.”

Past favorite home and garden classes returning include “Edible Landscaping,” “Basic Woodworking” and “Wildflowers of Maine,” which is taught only once every five years by Susan Hayward of Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary.

Back for its second year, the traditional hand craft of weaving will be offered. “Weaving Then and Now” will be taught with an eye toward the historical significance of weaving in the L/A community. Students will finish this course having made their own small tapestry wall hanging.

Beginning and intermediate/advanced levels of watercolor painting will be offered, as well as “Rug Braiding,” “Strip Quilting” and “True Beginner Sewing.”

Cooking courses returning this semester will include “Simple Chinese Cooking” taught by Cam Luu, owner of Wei Li Restaurant, as well as “Thai Cooking for Beginners,” taught by Pepper and Spice chef Junlong Bunleng.

Courses on holistic medicine are available, as well as “CPR, First Aid, AED Training,” “Understanding and Managing Arthritis” and “Healthy Skin, Healthy You,” which is taught by the professionals at Cassiel’s Day Spa.

Sports and fitness courses continuing to be offered include “Yoga,” “Tai Chi” and “Golf for Beginners.”

A variety of computer classes will be offered on programs such as Adobe Photoshop, MS Office, Excel and InDesign.

New Age courses returning this semester include “Weight Loss with Hypnosis,” “Meeting Your Spirit Guides” and “Dream Journey Class.” All are taught by certified hypnotherapist Tanya B. Quarterman.

Languages will include “Introductory Chinese,” “American Sign Language” and “Conversational Spanish for Beginners,” which will be taught by one of LAE’s newest instructors, Carolyn Silvia Sanchez. A variety of guitar, singing and ballroom dance classes will also be returning.

Lewiston Adult Education is open for registration. The courses listed are only a small portion of the course catalogue. For full listings, visit www.lewistonadulted.org, or stop by 156 East Ave. for a brochure.