This is one of San Francisco's best-kept secrets. This campus of CCSF offers a plethora of classes…read morein the hands-on vocations. There are Credit and No-credit classes. Most classes are free.
It's a sure way to gain knowledge and skills needed to improve, find a job, start your own company, or work on your home. All classes except one I took were free. I imagine some, like the automotive mechanics or motorcycle classes may have a tools requirement, or a book requirement. Otherwise this is mostly a free school.
Saturdays I've seen a large group of mostly women who don't speak much English, learning to use electric floorcleaning machines. I gather they're taking a class to get custodian jobs with the City. One thing I've noticed about this school is that there are many immigrants and ESL people taking non-ESL classes there. The teachers at Evans Street adapt very well to this. And they are not pedantic nor do they talk down to students, something that prevalent in other schools.
The CCSF Evans campus also offers mathematics, blueprint-reading, welding, auto mechanics, safety, woodwork, carpentry, janitorial, etc.. An avid DIY-er, I took classes to hone homeowner skills for such things as plumbing, electric applications & construction, solar panels, national electric code (and application thereof). There used to be solar heating and solar photovoltaic classes. The latter class AND book cost money, but if taught by the professor mentioned two paragraphs down, it's well worth it -- even if it were just for the boatload of environmental knowledge you'll walk away with. And I think they teach sewing and fashion design! My early college years were 99% males, so it's nice to have some gender variety on campus.
I've often picked up a quick trade lesson on something like hanging drywall, just walking thru the large indoor area. There are a ton of mockups for students to get the hands-on they need. Carpentry students build small houses that the other trades classes can use for projects: running conduit, wiring, testing, piping, plumbing, sheetrock. It's quite an experience!
If he still teaches there, try to get Max Parsely as an instructor -- he's steeped in construction-related and materials-specific knowledge, with experience managing large municipal projects. While he knows building codes and teaches Nat. Electric Code, he's also a School Of Hard Knocks guy, with logistics-savvy instructions like, "Use what's in the truck." Sometimes a student will TRY to throw him a curve, challenging his knowledge of, say, arctangents, that is found at levels of electrician work. Max will NAIL it -- even though he sometimes has engineers in the class and could defer with something like, "Let Tom answer that. He's an engineer," or, "You won't need that as an apprentice electrician." Besides engineers, his classes often have practicing electricians, plumbers, and homeowners. You will also learn OSHA-level safety.
Another thing to add to the worldly Professor Parsley's CV is this: I've heard him speak French, Spanish, and maybe another language to students. Many of the students in his class like to arrive early to get a chance to chew the fat and talk politics. And, if lucky, to get a Gaelic lesson from Max!
Administrators in public colleges are not high on my list -- with Chancellors at University of California and CCSF getting intense scrutiny of late, perhaps merited. But I have to compliment the Evans Campus CCSF Dean, Torrance Bynum, in glowing terms. He's energetic. He's engaged. He's interested and interesting. I've seen him in all-hands meetings with the students. He does not patronize or speak down to them. He asks the students what THEY want in a school, and how they think the school can better deliver it. Yeah, yeah, there are standard feedback forms from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). These forms are unwelcome but necessary if a school wants to keep its accreditation.
But Dean Bynum wants to look students in the eye for answers. He's bright and personable. And he's so down-to-earth (while a good dresser), I'm guessing he's got a PhD.
Besides the very knowledgeabe, pleasant teachers and administrators (including the office workers), there's a great coffee machine. I think the parking may still be free. And SF's Southeast sector, where Evans is located, has improved significantly over the years.
Other perqs: Many nearby places to eat or shop cheaply. Cheap supply houses 5 driving minutes away. Even clothing/fabric outlets. There's also a very close, USPS mail facility. The weather's generally decent and you won't be plagued by those cold winds on the CCSF Phelan campus hills. And I guarantee a short walk to your Evans campus class.
