If you’d like to get a little better at cooking, spending a day at college might not be a bad idea.

Northwestern Michigan College will be holding a series of one-day cooking classes beginning January 18. The college said they’ve designed the classes to help students to learn new cooking skills while preparing a variety of foods.

20 different topics will be offered during the classes, which take place throughout the winter. For more information about the classes, or if you’d like to register, log on to www.nmc.edu/ees.

A local elementary school will soon be launching a new program to support positive behavior.

On Monday, Traverse Heights Elementary School will launch a positive behavior support initiative. The program is being launched thanks in part to a grant from the Michigan Integrated Behavior and Learning Support Initiative. The goal of the new program is to design and develop schoolwide systems to support learning and positive behavior.

The program will kick-off with an assembly that will introduce students to behavior expectations. The assembly will be held at 9am in the Traverse Heights Elementary School gymnasium at 933 Rose Street in Traverse City.

As part of the new program, the shoal has adopted a new slogan: “Be Safe, Be Respectful, and be Repsonsible on a Road to Success.”

The school said that many community and business partners have been key to the launch of their new program, and would like to thank everyone who made the program possible.

A local college is working to help those interested in continuing their education by hosting a series of workshops.

West Shore Community College, located in Scottville, will host financial aid workshops for prospective students and their families this January. High school students as well as adults considering going to college are encouraged to attend one of these events.

Victoria Oddo, the college’s Director of Student Services, said that the information presented at the workshops is useful to anyone planning to continue their education, regardless of whether they plan to do so at West Shore.

“We will be offering workshops with information that is applicable to attendance at any college, university, or other post-secondary institution,” said Oddo, “Many people don’t realize that now is the time to begin investigating financial aid and scholarship opportunities for the 2010 fall semester. Often, students miss out on grants and scholarships by beginning the process too late. Many students also mistakenly think they won’t qualify when in actuality they do meet the criteria.”

Topics to be covered during the workshops include aid eligibility determination, sources of financial aid, application procedures, and Internet resources for scholarships and college planning.

The first workshop will be held at the Ludington High School library on Mon., Jan. 11, at 7 p.m.

An additional session will be offered in Mason County Central High School rooms C-9 and C-10 on Wed., Jan. 13, at 7 p.m.

For further information on these workshops or on college financial aid, you can contact the WSCC Financial Aid Office at 231-845-6211, extension 5518.

A holiday concert will be held on Sunday, November 22, at 3pm. The concert will be performed at the Cadillac Community Schools Auditorium. The Cadillac Symphony Orchestra and the A.M.E.N. Chorus will perform under the direction of Harvey Lucas. Guest orchestral conductor Kyle Nester will also be featured.

Tickets cost $10 for adults or $5 for students and are available from Kodiak’s, Horizon Books, or from the box office on the afternoon of the concert.

Students in Traverse City spent a portion of the day today walking, as a healthy way to celebrate physical fitness.

Traverse Heights Elementary School students participated in the First Annual Walk-A-Thon beginning at about 11:30 this morning. As a way to celebrate physical fitness within the community, students walked around the path that follows the boundaries of the school playground.

Families of the students, along with other community members, joined in on the event.

To learn more about the Walk-A-Thon and similar programs, you can contact Kate Leonard at 933-6500.

Two local groups are preparing for the premiere of their latest play.

Neil Simon’s 1960s comedy, Barefoot in the Park, is being presented as a production of the WSCC Performing Arts and Manistee Civic Players. The production runs October 9-10; 16-17 at 8 p.m. and October 11 at 2 p.m. at the historic Ramsdell Theatre in Manistee.

Barefoot in the Park features a young newlywed couple, their wacky upstairs neighbor, an eccentric mother-in-law with issues, and a couple of workers who add hilarity to the couple’s topsy-turvy world.

Reservations may be made at the WSCC box office Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. -12 p.m., or by calling 843-5507 until October 2.  Beginning October 5, reservations may be made by calling the Ramsdell Theatre box office at 231-723-9948.

With a reservation, WSCC students will be admitted to the comedy free of charge throughout the run of the production.