Instruction in Internet, email, and word processing applications.

CHICAGO - The Odyssey Project, in partnership with Urbana Adult Education, is offering new applicants and alums the opportunity for computer instruction in Internet, email and word processing computer applications.  These classes will be held over eight sessions from July 27^th to August 19^th.

Eligibility for these computer literacy classes will be open to new applicants for Fall 2010 and alums from The Odyssey Project, a free, eight-month college humanities course for adults living on low incomes. The core humanities classes will begin in late August at the Douglass Branch of the Champaign Public Library, 504 E. Grove St., in Champaign-Urbana, following the completion of the computer literacy program. The Odyssey Project is sponsored by the Illinois Humanities Council (IHC), The Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities (IPRH), and a grant from the Community Informatics Initiative.

The 2010 graduating class of the Odyssey Project in ChampaignThis article originally appeared in Smile Politely.

As you may have heard, the economy’s still struggling. That’s not good news for anyone (except maybe short-sellers?), but for those without post-secondary education and already struggling to make ends meet, it can be crippling. As Michael Burns, co-assistant director of the Odyssey Project, says, “ With only a high school education, it makes it difficult for a person to earn a livable wage. And more and more, the people who get access to post-secondary education do not come from lower and lower-middle-class economic backgrounds.“

4th Ward Alderman Toni Preckwinkle was the keynote speaker at our 2010 Odyssey Project graduation at the National Museum of Mexican Art on May 23, 2010.