Kelsey’s Place in Clanton held a free tape-measuring class on July 11 for those looking to improve their status in the job market.

The two-hour class was designed to teach the basics of reading a ruler and tape measure, as well as the more advanced mathematical side of things.

Victoria Byrne is a volunteer at Kelsey’s Place and was helping head the class.

“It all started with businesses in the community that said ‘they have really good applicants, but they don’t know the skill of how to use a tape measure or ruler,’” Byrne said.

Byrne opened the class by drawing a ruler on the board and it did not take long before fractions were being discussed.

Adding to the complexity of the mater is the fact that the United States is one of less than a handful of countries that have not adopted the metric system as its unit of measurement.

“It is a lot more complicated than a lot of people think it is,” Byrne said. “I understand why businesses would like to have that as a skill.”

Due to this, fractions are more commonly used when relaying measurements.

“There is a lot of math involved that scares people,” Byrne said. “Hopefully we can teach those more complex parts, such as dividing and multiplying measurements.”

In the past Kelsey’s Place has held other classes that pertain to various aspects of the job including a computer education course.

According to Byrne, the tape measuring class has the potential to be brought back and continued if the interest is there and the need still exists.

“The goal of Kelsey’s Place as a whole is just to help make people more prepared for jobs,” Byrne said.