Women’s strength classes

Starting Saturday, the Portland Police Bureau will host its WomenStrength classes in the Mt. Hood gymnasium.

At the request of Cherilyn Nederhiser, MHCC lead public safety officer, the Police Bureau is reaching outside city limits to give students a chance to take this class. “I just wanted to help raise awareness of public safety, both on campus and in students’ day-to-day lives,” she said.

Nederhiser also invited the Portland Police Bureau to host a class early last spring, which she called a success.

The upcoming class will be held in the Athletic Center, Room PE 139. Sessions will run on Saturday and continue on Nov. 8 and Nov. 15. It is free and open to anyone who has pre-registered, with no experience necessary. Nederhiser said this particular class “filled up in a day and a half.”

The class will go over simple blocks, holds, escapes, and other tactics, as well as helping women to be assertive and deal with confrontation in a safer manner.

Volunteers, past class members, and police officers will do the teaching.

To date, the Portland Police Bureau has taught self defense skills to more than 30,000 area women and hosted personal safety workshops to reach 100,000 men and women, officials said.