FREEPORT – In an effort to help boost the visibility of its programs, especially the ones targeted at adults, Regional School Unit 5 Recreation and Community Education is returning to the practice of mailing a course catalog to all residents in the district.

Anthony Johnson, RSU 5 recreation coordinator, said the organization’s fall course catalog is being mailed to all homes in Freeport, Pownal and Durham, as the programs are open to residents in all three towns. He said while the department’s office was in Freeport, it hasn’t been a town department since the formation of the RSU.

“We’re a subdivision of the school department,” he said.

And RSU 5 Recreation and Community Education is about more than just soccer and kickball leagues.

“We offer programs for adult and youth,” Johnson said. “We offer adult education, GED testing (as well as) lifelong learning programs. “

Some of the offerings include youth beginner guitar lessons, which get started on Oct. 2; a youth hip hop dance class, which is being held in both Durham (Tuesdays from Sept. 18-Nov. 6) and Freeport (Tuesdays from Sept. 20-Nov. 8); an adult archery class on Saturday, Sept. 23; an adult belly dance fitness class, which runs on Mondays from Sept. 24-Nov. 26; and a stained glass-making class on Tuesdays from Sept. 25-Oct. 23.

The mailing marks a change from recent years, when, in an effort to save trees (and money), the catalog was available only online. But that started to lead to declining enrollment in some adult programs, Johnson said, a trend the department is trying to reverse.

“A lot of the adult stuff, we’re trying to get a push on,” he said. “We were losing a lot of the older population that way. They like to have the catalog in hand so we went back to mailing it out this fall to see if we could get more interest.”

While the youth programs such as the annual soccer leagues and the cross-country team are very strong, Johnson hopes to see more adults take advantage of the department’s offerings.

“I’d love to see more adult programs run,” Johnson said. “A lot of times we offer stuff and people don’t hear about it or don’t know about it and we end up having to cancel because of not enough people signed up for it.”

As for the youth programs, Johnson said, there are several new ones coming up for the fall. He said there will be a fast-pitch softball clinic, a new youth cycling club and the department will also be offering the “Maine Biz Kids” program, which is a free program that is part of a statewide initiative aimed at teaching kids how to manage and run their own business.

Regional School Unit 5 Recreation and Community Education has mailed its fall course catalogue to all residents in Freeport, Pownal and Durham.