By Kelly Drake, Erin McWhorter and Jess McCuan

Why let your kids have all the fun? Now that they’re back in school, it’s time for moms (and everyone else) to hit the books. We kept working women in mind and looked for the best fall classes for non-traditional students with limited time and funds. For example, a two-month class on heroes and villains in movies or a two-week class on how to sell your house. Want to get smart quick? Read on.

She’ll Always Have Paris • 9/13
For years, Mary Jo Padgett dreamed of perfecting her French and figuring out life as an ex-pat in France. So in April 2007, she bid her friends adieu and left her home in Hendersonville to live out the rest of the year in Paris. Rather than write a book about her travels (overdone, she says), Padgett decided to share her behind-the-scenes experience by teaching a class. Her original class, A Year in Paris: Living and Learning the City of Light, began in the spring of 2009. Anyone who is interested in visiting Paris will benefit from Padgett’s humorous stories of cultural discovery and her inside take on the best chocolatiers and parks to visit. This four-session class breaks life in Paris down by season and touches on many aspects of Parisian life. “Even if you never get there, it’s almost as if you’ve been,” Padgett says.

While in Paris, Padgett started to notice the amount of American history all around her. She picked up a copy of Daniel Jouve’s Paris: Birthplace of the U.S.A., which would later become the basis for her latest class, American History in Paris: Our Founding Fathers. The new class will meet three times and focus specifically on France’s role in the success of the American colonies and their influence on America’s founding fathers. Padgett’s own photos of famous (and some not-so-famous) historical places will illustrate her tales.

A Year in Paris: Living and Learning the City of Light begins September 7 at the Henderson County campus of Blue Ridge Community College and September 9 at the Transylvania campus. Tuition is $55.

American History in Paris: Our Founding Fathers begins September 13 at both the Henderson County and Transylvania campuses. Tuition is $50. For more information go to www.blueridge.edu/con_ed/community_enrichment or call 828-694-1743.

Zen and the Art of Bicycle Maintenance • 9/25-26
Bikes have been an integral part of Jenny Kallista’s life since she learned to ride at age 4. Her father taught her to fix a flat tire at the tender age of 8. After spending a decade as a professional bike mechanic, six of those years working for Claudia Nix at Asheville’s Liberty Bikes, the 36-year-old Kallista decided to pedal down her own road. This spring, she started up the Appalachian Bicycle Institute in Leicester. Her first two-day class, Essential Overhaul, is slated for September 25 and 26. She’ll teach riders how to break their bikes down to the spokes and wheels and then piece them together again. The class is open to everyone, including beginner cyclists. Kallista, who has a degree in philosophy from the University of Illinois, says she’s out to demystify the art of bicycle maintenance. There’s a feeling of freedom that comes from knowing how to fix what might go wrong, she says.

Kallista still works in a bike shop—the new Motion Makers shop on Brevard Road in Asheville—and she’s always looking for new things to do with her hands. In addition to bike mechanics, she dabbles in welding, steel sculpting and glass-blowing. She’s also a gardener and beekeeper, and she loves to talk about homesteading and simple living. Many classes will be offered on weekends, as something of a retreat, and she hopes people who take them will learn as much about themselves as they do their bikes. www.appalachianbicycleinstitute.com.

Strike A Chord • 9/24 - 11/19
Ever wanted to learn to tickle the ivories? Marla Woeckener will teach you piano fundamentals by matching keyboard typography with music theory. In her beginner-level class, students can expect to walk away able to perform two songs. Woeckener, who holds a bachelor’s in music from the University of Colorado, has been teaching piano at the N.C. College for Seniors for 11 years. Fridays, 2-4pm. $10. N.C. Center for Creative Retirement. www2.unca.edu/ncccr.

Why Your House Won’t Sell and What You Can Do • 9/14-30
Can’t sell the house in this dismal market? Find out why it pays to whip your place into shape long before you call the realtor. In this class, Hendersonville realtor Mary Stephens and home stager Sandy LeRoy tell you which details are worth your time and money. For example, more than 80 percent of home buyers begin their search on the Internet, so it pays to put high-quality photos online. September 14-28, 7-8:30pm, or September 16-30, 2-3:30pm. $35. Blue Ridge Community College. www.blueridge.edu.

Find a Fungus Among Us • 9/18
Don’t want to pick your poison? Let Asheville Mushroom Club Advisor S. Coleman McClenaghan teach you to identify the fungi of the Great Smoky Mountains in her Meet Your Mushrooms: The Good, The Bad and The Deadly walk. The display is part of the Mushroom Club’s annual FungiFest. McClenaghan has been studying mycology since 1988 and has a Ph.D. in the field. $11 for Asheville Mushroom Club members and $15 for the public. N.C. Arboretum. www.ncarboretum.org

Learn Seed-Sowing Basics • 9/8 - 10/27
Will planting peppers while you’re mad make them grow hotter? Does burying Hydrangea seeds with nails turn the blooms blue? Alexandra Holland does some botanical mythbusting in her eight-week series Botany Basics at the N.C. Arboretum. The Blue Ridge Naturalist graduate will give lectures on ecology, plant evolution and classifications. She’ll also lead hands-on activities and show you how to identify species. Wednesdays, 9:30am-noon. N.C. Arboretum. www.ncarboretum.org/

Study Up on “Obama’s War” • 9/20 - 11/8
Who knew our country would have 100,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan and Pakistan by the end of 2010? Mary Lasher probably could have guessed. She’s spent ten years teaching classes on the Middle East and Asia, an interest fostered by the events of September 11. Lasher and her husband have traveled to Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Lasher leads an eight-week discussion course on Pakistan and Afghanistan, ethnicity, national interests and U.S. involvement in the two Asian nations. Mondays, 9-11am. N.C. Center for Creative Retirement. www2.unca.edu/ncccr.

What’s Your Story? • 9/25
Kickstart your memoir project at this one-day workshop, taught by Anne Barnhill, author of What You Long For and My Sister and Me. Barnhill, who has an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from UNC-Wilmington, guides you through various ways to shape your story and jog your memory. $75 for nonmembers. 10am-4pm. The Writers Workshop of Asheville. www.Twwoa.org.

Ponder the Art of the Evil Genius • 9/23 - 11/11
So what made Freddy Krueger and the Joker such great villains? Find out in Alice Doner’s Heroes and Villains class. Every week of this eight-week course will explore a new film and its characters. Good guys, good guys to hate and save-the-day heroes. Doner has degrees in literature and American studies from Rice University and The University of Texas-Austin. Thursdays, 2-5pm. N.C. Center for Creative Retirement. www2.unca.edu/ncccr.

Get Yourself Organized! • 9/15-29
Being organized means less time wasted looking for stuff and more time to stop and smell the roses—or gawk at fall foliage. But where do you start? Figure it out in Mary Ellen Whittle’s class, The Organized Life: Practical Solutions, a crash course in getting it all together. Whittle says it’s important to start small. She’ll teach methods for reducing clutter and systems for keeping your stuff both accessible and out of the way. Blue Ridge Community College, Transylvania Campus. $65 includes cost of workbook. www.blueridge.edu.