Greenfield Community College is pleased to announce that it will begin offering subsidized credit and non-credit courses in financial and computer literacy on site at the Athol-Royalston Regional High School this spring.

"The North Quabbin region is an important component of GCC's service area and we are very thankful to the Town of Athol and to the Athol-Royalston Regional School District for providing the funding and the space to make this happen," said GCC President Robert Pura.

The courses will be overseen by Thomas Simmons, Chair of the GCC Business Department, who began his career at the college ten years ago by teaching a series of accounting workshops to agricultural businesses in the North Quabbin area for a GCC Mass Dept of Agriculture grant-funded program.

This program is made possible by the Town of Athol four-town regional Community Development Block Grant Program. Low and moderate income residents of Athol, Petersham, Phillipston and Royalston will be able to register for the courses for free – including tuition, fees and books. These residents are the target group of the grant funding and will receive priority enrollment status.

Residents of the four towns who earn above low-moderate income levels, and ANY resident of the nine-town North Quabbin region (including Erving, Orange, Warwick, Wendell, and New Salem) can register for a 3-credit college course, including books, for a flat fee of $75, which represents a substantial savings. GCC will also be offering non-credit workshops on financial management which will also be free to the target residents and cost $25 for all others.

GCC will offer the following credit and non-credit courses:

• BUS 105 Personal Financial Literacy
• CIS 100 Foundations of Computers & the Internet
• MAT 090 Basic Mathematics Skills
• One advanced computer applications non-credit workshop, e.g., Introduction to Quicken

Anyone interested in learning more about the program is encouraged to call 413-775-1438 to register to attend one of the following information/orientation sessions to be held at the Athol-Royalston Regional High School:

• Session 1: Saturday, February 28th – 10:00 a.m.
• Session 2: Saturday, February 28th - 11:30 a.m.
• Session 3: Monday, March 2nd - 6:00 p.m.
• Session 4: Monday, March 2nd – 7:30 p.m.

The information/orientation sessions will include:

1. An overview of the program and the courses to be offered.
2. A brief survey will be conducted to identify prospective student's income range (self declared), area of interest in classes and child care needs.
3. All prospective students will have the opportunity for a confidential evaluation to ensure placement in courses that will be the most effective for each student.