2020 Summer Schedule – Our 60th year
Week 1 – 7/6 – 7/10
Week 2 – 7/13 – 7/17
Week 3 – 7/20 – 7/24
Week 4 – 7/27 – 7/31
Week 5 – 8/3 – 8/7
Week 6 – 8/10 – 8/14
2020 Class Descriptions and Schedules:
Nature’s Clubhouse (canceled)
Walk a Native American Path: Learning Offline Kit
Learn about the Native Americans through our “Offline at your house” learning box. The learning box is full of hands-on projects to help students learn about Native American life, especially those that lived in New York State.
Instructor: Lauren Dantz
Early Birders
Grades: 3-5
Weeks: 4
Online class time: 11amNoon
Forget the worms! Get handy with binoculars and start a life-long hobby of bird watching! Using sound and sight, you’ll learn tricks to entice birds close, experiment with bird feeding, follow along as the instructor does bird hikes, start your life list and get creative with your new obsession!
Instructor: Chris Keefer
Summer STEAM
Week: 3
Grades: 3-5
Online Class time: TBA
Students will explore STEAM, Science, Technology Engineering, Arts, and Math, though Engineering Design Projects, Build Challenges, and Science Experiments! Using materials commonly found around the house and in the outdoors, students will be guided through STEAM projects filling their Explorers Journals with ideas, drawings, results, and questions. Opportunities for extended independent learning will be offered.
Instructor: Katy Perry
Drawing a Different Perspective (canceled)
Grades: 2-5
Week: 5
Online course time: 2-3pm
Have you ever taken a moment and looked around at the objects that are in certain rooms? Through this drawing course, students will take a closer look at the specific objects and items that are synonymous with rooms within their homes. We will learn about the histories of still life drawings and the artists who create them. Students will learn how to collect their own objects and set up a still life to show space. Through still life drawing, students will learn art vocabulary pertaining to the lesson and the art world. Students will also have the opportunity to isolate an object of their choice and learn how to create an interesting composition!
Instructor: Anna Pellicone
Monster Trackers (canceled)
Weeks: 2, 5
Grades: 2-5
Online class time: 9-10am
Here we go – let’s learn about the famous, the fabled, and the fantastic creatures that fascinate us all. We’ll keep a journal to record any possible signs of monster activity while finding out what to keep an eye out for. Who’s in?
Instructor: Shannon Blakeley
Wildlife Watchers
Week: 4
Grades: 2-5
Online class time: 9-10am
Let’s learn about our local wildlife! We will observe our natural neighbors by recording our findings, and learning about the signs that can help us to identify wildlife. We’re talking birds, bugs, bears… you name it!
Instructor: Shannon Blakeley
Rainbow Scavenger Hunt
Week: 6
Grades: 2-6
Online class time: 9-10am
Somewhere over the rainbow, there is a creative and colorful class… found it! Now we have to find all the colors of the rainbow to help us make our amazing artwork. We’ll learn about the color wheel, the science behind rainbows, and everything in between!
Instructor: Shannon Blakeley
Wizards Workshop I
Grades: 3-6
Weeks: 1-2, 3-4 (two week class)
Online class time: 9-10am
Your OWL has arrived! Don’t miss your opportunity to learn Wizardry online. Make your Wand. Create Magic Potions. Mystify your friends and family with magical charms from your Secret Spell Book. Discover Amazing Creatures & Fantastic Places. Learn along with your “Headmaster”, Merdwin the Mediocre, in this 2 week theatrical crash course in conjuration. We will ultimately have a Wizard’s Conclave to show and discuss all that you have designed, fabricated, and brought into being. Parental involvement/interaction is not required, but is kindly requested and encouraged.
Instructor: Scott Payne, a.k.a “Merdwin the Mediocre”
Wizard’s World of Wonders (Advanced) Grades 7 – 10 (canceled)
Haunted Heldebergs (canceled)
Grades: 3+
Weeks: 5-6 (two week class)
Online class time: 9-10am
Ghosties and Ghoulies! Scary Skeletons and Cozy Coffins. Crumbling Crypts and Tilted Tombstones. In this 2 week online course, you will create Killer Costumes, Panic-Inducing Props, Creepy Characters and Dastardly Crafts resulting in Fearsome Frolics! Have good spooky fun designing and building your own SAFE Theatrical Haunted House, for Halloween or anytime.
We will have an online showcase of our Horrible Haunts and Ghoulish Guises upon completion.
Instructor: Scott Payne
Thread Jewelry! (Updated)
Grades: 4-10
Weeks: 4
Online course time: 12-1pm
Get creative with us making all kinds of thread jewelry! Learn how to make jewelry using colorful thread and unique patterns! Bracelets, anklets, and even rings can be made with thread, and in this class you can learn how!
Instructor: Gwen McFerran
Be a Magician! – W3
Grades: 4+
Week: 3
Online course time: 10-11am
Here’s your chance to learn magic from one of the top magicians in the Capital Region. Magician Jim Snack will draw from his bag of tricks to teach sleight of hand, close-up magic, and illusions. The workshop is for ages 8 and above.
Instructor: Jim Snack
*Be A Magician ! W3 is not required for Be a Magician! W5
Be a Magician! W5**
Grades: 4+
Week: 5
Online course time: 10-11am
Here’s your chance to learn magic from one of the top magicians in the Capital Region (all students welcome whether they took Week 1 or not!). Magician Jim Snack will draw from his bag of tricks to teach sleight of hand, close-up magic, and illusions. The workshop is for ages 8 and above.
Instructor: Jim Snack
**Be a Magician! W5 is open to all students; Week 3 is NOT required for Week 5. Different tricks will be taught in the two weeks, so students wanting MORE magic can take both and learn a greater variety of tricks!
Artistic Trading Cards
Grades: 3 – 8
Week: 5
Class time: 10:00 – 11:00
Create many miniature artworks about the same size as baseball cards! A variety of mediums and techniques will be explored to create these mini masterpieces. These works of art can be presented in card-collector pockets, sleeves and sheets. These works are great to keep, trade, or even send in the mail to friends and family!
Instructor: John Vandenbergh
Cartooning
Grades: 4 – 8
Week: 6
Class time: 10-11am
Attention: fans of comic books, cartoons and comic strips! Explore the art of cartooning. Human animation will be emphasized, including facial expression, body movement and setting. Learn to create original story lines and scripts. The class will “publish” a collective comic book.
Instructor: John Vandenbergh
French & Indian War (canceled)
Week: 5
Grades: 4+
Online class time: 11am
Indian attacks…France invades New York. Defend King and Country! “Kid -life” in 1753 Heldebergs is dangerous, but fun. Pioneer life in Colonial New York comes alive as you develop exciting skills learned during the War that made America. Ben Franklin’s Albany Plan of Union asks the question; will we learn to govern ourselves?
Instructor: Jeffrey Tew
Revolutionary War
Week: 3
Grades: 4+
Online class time: 11am
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and you! Learn about the Revolution! Young people like you in every battle. Learn military tactics that helped save Albany from British invasion and discover how our freedoms were won. Join up and decide… Will you take the Kings shilling or sign the Declaration and create a new country of your own?
Instructor: Jeff Tew
Civil War
Week: 4
Grades: 4+
Online class time: 11am
Step back in time and experience the lives of soldiers and civilians during the period of America’s Civil War. Roll calls, songs, and Army Drill are what is in store for you! You will learn about the causes of this conflict between Americans and meet some characters who look like they just stepped out of your history book.
Instructor: Jeff Tew
Beginner Dungeons and Dragons Campaign
Weeks: 2, 4, 6
Grades: 5+
Online class time: 1-2pm
Have you wanted to try a role play game like Dungeons and Dragons? Now is your chance to step into a great character and embark on an adventure. Personalize a Dungeons and Dragons character, become that character through role play on an adventure campaign, and discover the magic of Dungeons and
Dragons.
Instructor: MaryAnn Dunn
Art in Nature
Week: 1
Grades: 6+
Online class time: 9-10am
Experiment with using nature in your artwork! We will incorporate natural items from our backyards, and our kitchens, to create paints, prints, and zines!
Instructor: Shannon Blakeley
Songwriting
TBA
Grades: 6+
Online class time: 1-2pm
In this class we’ll learn how songs are put together and have fun making our own. Students will examine the relationships between song structure, lyrical content, chord progressions, and melody and how these are used to create songs with emotional power. We’ll use imagery from the natural world to provide inspiration for our creativity. This class is for both beginning and experienced songwriters.
Instructor: Joe Hetko