Steamboat Springs — Ski runs on Mount Werner aren’t the only new courses opening this season. As Colorado Mountain College’s Alpine Campus begins registration for the spring semester, the college will begin offering options for two new programs in the Steamboat Springs area: historic building preservation and elementary education.

The college has created two partnerships to offer the programs.

In elementary education, CMC now offers an Associate of Arts – Elementary Education Emphasis for students to complete in their first two years of college before moving on to four-year teaching-degree programs. A partnership with Mesa State College allows students to take classes from Mesa State at CMC’s Steamboat campus through interactive, televised classes.

Graduates will earn an Associate of Arts degree from Colorado Mountain College and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies with Elementary Education from Mesa State.

CMC’s Assistant Campus Dean of Instruction Anita “AJ” Janis said the program will allow locals who are interested in pursuing a degree in elementary education to attain degree hours without leaving the town.

“This program allows people who are classroom aides or local residents and parents, as well as other folks in other careers, to take these classes,” she said.

Students also can transfer the credits from the first two years to any public college or university in Colorado.

Historic project

A second partnership, with Historic Routt County, will al-low CMC’s new Historic Preservation Program students to get hands-on experience with local buildings and projects.

“We have some of the best resources in the state here in our community with Towny Anderson,” Janis said.

Anderson, president of Mainstreet Steamboat Springs and executive director of Historic Routt County, will lead students on projects during the summers after they have completed classroom work during the school year, Janis said.

“We will have a combination of the theoretical and historical background students need to understand historical value : with the knowledge and know-how and some hands-on opportunity to know how to do preservations,” said Assistant Campus Dean of Student Services Brian Hoza.

The program originally was created by Associate Professor Robert Ogle at CMC’s Timberline campus in Leadville and will be available in Steamboat for the first time this spring.

Registration for classes will remain open until the campus closes Dec. 23 and will resume Jan. 5.

Hoza said potential students often procrastinate due to the winter break, but that can create difficulties getting into the courses they want.

“The tendency is a lot of folks will focus on their holiday plans and so forth and delay their registration after the holiday, but then they’re in a tight crunch to get in the courses,” he said.

The campus is open for registrations from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday. Students also can register by fax and mail. Students who have an active account also can register online at http://www.coloradomtn.edu/register/home.shtml.

To register on campus, visit the front desk at Bristol Hall.