Get with the program

Ruth Sapp returned from her 40th college reunion with a film camera full of pictures she had no way to share.

"All of my friends were using digital. I still had a film camera and a 9-year-old computer with dialup," she said. "I realized how limited I was."

She asked members of her church, First Baptist of Augusta, for help. A few had started informal computer classes and Mrs. Sapp signed up for every one she could get into.

"I e-mail now. I edit photos now," the 60-year-old Mrs. Sapp said.

Her church recently decided to add structure to those programs and open the classes to the public.

The ministry, now called Computers@First, in two months has grown into a core of 12 trainers, instructors and classroom assistants, said organizer Ellen Underwood.

First Baptist kicked off the series with an online banking course Tuesday and has announced a schedule of classes through December.

The free classes are held in the church's 15-station computer lab. Every few weeks, instructors will offer free lessons on topics ranging from spreadsheets and word processing to social networking and html.

"That's the great thing about it. You don't have to have any computer skills," Mrs. Sapp said. "If you don't know how to turn the computer on, they'll teach you."

The church is gathering donated and surplus equipment so it can eventually put on larger classes.

"At first this was a spontaneous thing," said James West, who leads the group with Mrs. Underwood. "We see a lot of people out there who might have access to a computer but never had any formal training. We think we can help."

Call (706) 733-2236 for more information or to register for classes.

Reach Kelly Jasper at (706) 823-3552 or kelly.jasper@augustachronicle.com.