Working on the theory that great leaders are taught, the Des Moines Neighborhood Resource Office each year offers two series of classes to help members of the city's designated neighborhood associations become more effective leaders.

A new series of core leadership classes and elective classes begins on March 4 at the DMACC Urban Campus in Des Moines. Classes vary from two to four hours in length, and each is just one session.

Shallee Keenan, program coordinator for the Neighborhood Resource Office, said the classes were first offered in fall 2007. Enrollment and class offerings have grown since then, she said. In fall 2009, residents from 19 neighborhoods were enrolled in courses; 27 students were enrolled in core classes, and 27 students were enrolled in elective classes.

"It's good for building capacity within your own organizations," Keenan said. "It might be your neighborhood group you're involved in; it might be your PTA or your church organization. These classes and the skills you learn help you build your skills."

Laura Rettig, president and secretary of the Martin-Hickman Neighborhood Association, took all the core leadership classes that were offered in fall 2008 and spring 2009, when she helped form her association, which represents residents just west of Martin Luther King Parkway and near Hickman Road.

"Our teacher was a professor from ISU, and he was an expert in the nonprofit world. So we had that, and we had a Ph.D. teaching the class, so it was a dual benefit," she said.

While the class taught "pretty much common sense stuff," she said, it also was good for "jogging your memory about things. It caused you to think about things before you did them. The book we got for class was very helpful."

Rettig took elective classes on negotiating county government and city government.

"Those were really helpful, not having any idea of how that system works," she said. "Just learning about all the programs and services the county and the city has was helpful."

Rettig said she was able to secure a home loan for herself through Neighborhood Finance Corp., which she learned about through the classes.

"Thc classes were just very helpful for daily life," she said.

Linda Martin, a board member of the Mondamin Presidential Neighborhood Association on the city's west side, said she found the several core classes she took to be beneficial, and she has signed up for four additional classes this spring.

"The classes were very informative, within my own personal and professional arena," she said. "