The Salvation Army and Paul D. Camp Community College prepare to kick off their new partnership on Monday, but they are hoping more students will register for the classes at the Salvation Army’s new Robert W. Harrell Jr. Physical Health and Education Center before the first session.

The new Bank Street building will host four classes this semester in the pilot semester for the new partnership. Two of the classes begin Monday, and the other two begin Tuesday.

“I’m thrilled with what’s happening with Paul D. Camp,” Capt. Jim Shiels of the Salvation Army said. “We’re working together to create better opportunities for the community.”

The partnership was in the works before the building even got off the ground, but the classes are the first visible step. Officials hope they will help students who live near the center get their education with lower travel costs and encourage others living near the center to pursue higher education.

“Some of the folks we deal with at the Salvation Army don’t have the luxury of transportation,” Shiels said. “Many of them didn’t complete high school. We have a lot of single parents where their kids have grown up enough now they can look at a career or second career.”

Paul D. Camp’s vice president of academic and student development, Dr. Tara Atkins-Brady, said the partnership is exciting for the college as well.

“Anytime we have an opportunity to work with an organization that shares our interests, it’s a wonderful thing to have that opportunity,” Atkins-Brady said. “Whatever else we’re able to do in working together, I think this represents a good first step in what we hope will be a series of steps.”

Three of the courses last until May 5 and are three credits each, for a cost of $396.45. They are as follows:

• Music Appreciation: Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.
• College Survival Skills: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.
• Introduction to Religion: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.

The fourth course, Introduction to Computers, ends March 2 and is only two credits, for a cost of $264.30. It will meet Mondays and Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 12:50 p.m.

Atkins-Brady said the four courses were chosen for different reasons. Music Appreciation and Introduction to Religion mesh with the mission of the Salvation Army, she noted.

“We felt that those would be appropriate courses to try there,” she said.

Introduction to Computers and College Survival Skills, she added, are “good introductory classes to anybody who’s interested in beginning their college journeys.”

Potential students can enroll by meeting with their counselor or adviser, by visiting www.pdc.edu or by calling 569-6700.