This list is intended to give everyone an idea of what's coming next term! Classes are entered in the order they're received. The board will try to balance what is proposed across the periods. Being on this list doesn't indicate board approval, final approval of classes will happen after the proposals due date. If you see a need, please propose something or talk to friends about filling in the gap!
Fall 2023
| Class Name | Description | Ages | Teacher |
| Art History: Make It Your Own | Each week we will watch a short video about an interesting artist (generally from the Art History Kids workshops). When available, we will also read a picture book about the artist. We will examine some of their works and spend the rest of class time working on process-focused projects inspired by the artist of the week. (Note: There will be no repeat projects from the Fall 2022 version of this course so students are welcome to repeat!) | 8-12 | Megan Tarchichi |
| Biology Exploration: Cells, DNA, and Genetics | We will spend this class looking in depth at the cell, learning about DNA, and exploring genetics. Plan for lots of learning (lectures, videos, powerpoint etc), socratic discussions, game style review, and hands on activities (think building cell models with candy, strawberry DNA extraction, figure out the family tree etc). We like to mix up discussions of normal and abnormal as students seem to love learning about what can go wrong in the human body! | 11-19 | Megan Tarchichi |
| Little People, Big Dreams | Come and learn about the lives of famous people from around the world! Each class will focus on a famous person from the Little People, Big Dreams biography picture book series. We will read about the person together, and engage in conversation, play, and art. | 4-7 | Colleen Wedler and Kendra Williamson |
| Creatures of the Amazon | Each week we will discuss different animals or creatures of the Amazon Rainforest. Some creatures will be unfamiliar to the students. Others may be more common. The class will include a book or short video introducing the creature, followed by a brief discussion where kids can respond to what they just learned. After this group time, students may complete crafts, play games, or enjoy some unrelated free play depending on the week. | 4-6 | Kirstin Swenson |
| It's All About the Height | In this class we will focus on building tall structures out of different materials. Each week will focus on a different building material (e.g., legos, pipe cleaners, straws, craft sticks, newspapers, etc.). While the class will mostly be free play, we hope to coach children to help them build taller and sturdier creations as the semester progresses. Some classes will include a book or brief presentation that may help the students build better. Some weeks will involved independent work while others may be more collaborative. This is not a class for students who like to continuously knock down others' structures. Some weeks there may be an opportunity for destruction at the end of class, but it is not guaranteed. | 4-6 | Kirstin Swenson |
| Altered Books | Join us as we explore the delightful artistic practice of altering books to make them works of art. The first class we will choose books and discuss the history of this art form and start preparing our books for work. Each week thereafter we will demonstrate another technique that can be used to alter a book and work on our books. These demonstrations will use a wide range of art supplies and techniques - collage, paint, pens, markers, origami pockets, cut outs, secret spaces to hide things, crayons, transfers - literally anything you can think of. Sometimes you may choose to interact with the text/pictures and sometimes you may choose to ignore them and work over the top. | 12-18 | Cosette Cornelius-Bates and Becky Spevak |
| Fiber Arts Studio | Fiber Arts Studio is a space for you to further explore fiber arts or just sit around crafting with your friends. Bring your current fiber project to work on or explore some other items that I bring - including needle felting, simple looms, making your own yarn etc. I can also have some fabric available. I am an experienced fiber artist who has taught knitting, dyeing, color theory, drop spindling, sweater recycling, embroidery, and visible mending. The fee for this class will go towards snacks that we can decide upon as a class. | 8-18 | Cosette Cornelius-Bates |
| Graphic Novel book club | There are so many good graphic novels out there! In this class you get to share one of your favorites with everyone else. After registration I will contact each person who signs up to get their nomination for a book to read this session. After that the class will be run like a book club. Each week we will read someone else's nominee and then we will discuss the book. The person who nominates the book will tell us why they chose the book and what they liked about it and we can go from there. | 11-15 | Cosette Cornelius-Bates |
| The Count of Monte Cristo Book Club | This class is for teens interested in reading and discussing an adventure novel with jailbreak, piracy, false identities, deception, murder, and revenge. There will be assigned reading from The Count of Monte Cristo each week to be done at home, then we will enjoy warm drinks and snacks as we explore the themes of hope, justice, vengeance, mercy, and forgiveness in class. Students can read in whatever format they desire (book, e-reader, audiobook), and may be surprised that by the end of the semester they have read a book that is a whopping 1,276 pages long. While the age range for this class is 13 years and up due to mature themes, 12 year olds are welcome with parental permission. | 13-19 | Holly Schnur |
| Poetry Workshop | We will read and discuss poems and then try our hand at writing our own poems through guided exercises and free writing time. Selected poems will all be from poet laureates. Previous students of poetry workshop are welcome to attend as the structure will be the same as the fall 2022 workshop, but the content will be new. Students should be able to write independently. | 10-18 | Katy Frey |
| Intro to Scouting | Curious about scouting but not ready to join a troop formally? This class will explore traditional scouting activities using the Outdoor Service Guides materials. The OSG approach focuses on making scouting fun and accessible to everybody. Learn to send messages in code, practice personal safety and first aid skills, master knot-tying, sing songs, and play group games. We will also learn about service and do one service project. We will not be following a full itinerary that a typical troop/pack would follow but consider this a sampler course into the world of scouting. Ages 6-11. Parents, let me know if your scout has any special needs so we can make appropriate accommodations. | 6-11 | Katy Frey |
| Adulting 101 | The goal of this class is to help teens develop useful life skills to prepare them for adulthood. Each week, we will focus on a different real world adult skill, including basic car and home maintenance, voting and civic engagement, developing a growth mindset, conflict resolution and relationships, basic budgeting, and more! Students will have a chance to practice adult skills and ask questions. | 13-12 | Allison Johnson and Jes Sciulli |
| Introduction to Ballroom Dance | Let's learn some basic social dancing! We will learn the basic steps of a variety of Standard (foxtrot, waltz, ...) and Latin/Rhythm (merengue, cha cha, mambo, swing, samba...) style dances. Each week we will focus on one or two dances, practicing what we learned and adding new steps. No dance experience required, just try something new and have fun! | 12-18 | Deborah Denovich, Rachel Meyers |
| Cozy Corner: Stories and Sketchbooks | This class will be a cozy, chill enjoyment of stories and sketching. I'm thinking of having a small pop up tent/fort or two. Students will be invited to bring in a small blanket/pillow/stuffy if desired and a snack if they wish. We will lounge and I will read some cool stories while the kids sketch. This will not be a super planned out activity time, more a relaxed, open-ended class. | 8-12 | Becky Ashkettle |
| Cozy Corner: Stories and Sketchbooks | This class will be a cozy, chill enjoyment of stories and sketching. I'm thinking of having a small pop up tent/fort or two. Students will be invited to bring in a small blanket/pillow/stuffy if desired and a snack if they wish. We will lounge and I will read some cool stories while the kids sketch. This will not be a super planned out activity time, more a relaxed, open-ended class. | 4-7 | Becky Ashkettle |
| Entomology 101 | This will be an introductory class that explains what entomology is and explores the importance of insects, insect biodiversity and museum collections. We’ll learn how systematic classification and taxonomy works, how anatomy is used to identify insects and why we want to study insects. The class will be lecture and discussion based, with some hands on activities or demonstrations. | 12-18 | Deborah Denovich |
| Be Your Own Boss | This class will be very hands on. Students should have interest in starting a business. Students will learn the basics to start their own business. We will discuss ideas, marketing techniques and legal requirements. Students will design a logo, an advertisement of some sort and hopefully a business plan. I have been an entrepreneur for the past 15 years. I have experience with being in an LLC and also as a sole proprietor. I have a passion with wanting to help others work for themselves. My friends and family would likely joke about how often I talk about new business ideas. | 12-18 | Pamela Henderson |
| Crafting Mini Things | A hands on class where students will work on miniature crafting projects. To include, but not limited to, traditional "D&D" style Minifigures, polymer clay, shrinky dinks, felt hand sewing. Students can chose the subject of their crafting using the different mediums. | 9-14 | Kat Mostowy |
| Color Mixing with Colored Pencil | This class will teach the basics of colored pencil with a heavy focus on using the three primary colors (plus black and white) to mix any color. We'll make color charts and practice mixing colors to match the color any object we find. A final project will include drawing and coloring a plant (or another object) of your choice using only the primary colors, trying to be as true as possible to the plant's actual colors. We will be using Prismacolor Colored Pencils (provided). | 13-18 | Kendra Williamson |
| Introduction to Foundational Calligraphy | This an introduction to a basic form of calligraphy called the "Foundational hand" (you can Google that term to see what it looks like). It's done with a broad-edge pen (flat-edge, not pointed), and is a good way to get into the basics of calligraphy. In this class, we would learn the history of the Foundational hand, practice basic strokes, learn the lowercase and uppercase alphabets, and learn to put letters together into words and sentences with appropriate spacing. | 14-18 | Kendra Williamson |
| Building playtime | Come build with us! In this open ended class we will focus on PLAY using a variety of building materials. We will start class reading a story about creating/building/engineering followed by open play time. Our little engineers will be creating with different kinds of blocks, Legos, straws, snap circuits, as well as natural materials like seashells, rocks, etc. | 4-7 | Liz Peterson Kristen Wilmot |
| Introduction to Western Herbalism | Sure, you're old and jaded now, but if you still have fond memories of mixing up potions in your back yard, or you love the taste of tea, or you think you've heard a plant speak to you, this class is for you. Part of our time will be spent learning about the basics of western herbalism through short lectures, and part will be spent making teas, salves, body products, and maybe more! We'll be working with heat, and some plants may cause reactions (depending on your own physiology) so impulse control + safety focus are non-negotiable requirements. | 13-18 | Jessica Rudmin |
| Storigami 1 | In this class we will work through the book “Nature Fold-Along Stories” by Christine Petrell Kallevig. Each week we’ll learn a bit about our natural world as we fold paper into animals and plants. We will play a true/false game about what we learned and any extra class time can be used to practice our folding skills! | 6-10 | April Lechwar |
| Storigami 2 | For those who have already taken Storigami 1 or who are ready for longer stories/more challenging folds. In this class we will work through the book(s) “Folding Stories” and/or “Fold-Along Stories” by Christine Petrell Kallevig. Each week we’ll listen to a story and follow along with progressive origami folds. Any extra class time after the initial story can be used to practice our folding skills! | 7-10 | April Lechwar |
| The Vietnam War | The Vietnam War is one of the more misunderstood periods in American history. Why were we there, and what were we fighting for? In this class, we will look at the US’ involvement in Vietnam from a number of perspectives - political, military, cultural, media - as well as discussing the long term impact the war and our country’s participation has had on our nation and its people. | 13-19 | Becky Spevack, Jaime McMillan Horst |
| Come As You Are: A History of Grunge | Seattle, WA, 1980s-1990s. What made this city, at this point in time, the perfect storm to create one of the most unique and iconic music movements in recent history? We’ll explore the culture, people, and music that led to the rock music and lifestyle that would become known as Grunge. Warning: this class will likely touch on the topics of mental health, addiction, and death, as gently as possible. | 8-13 | Becky Spevack, Sasha Wallenzine |
| RPG: Role Playing Gym | Have you ever wondered what would happen if Superman and Princess Zelda played kickball against Godzilla and Steve from Minecraft? If the Avengers challenged the Mario Bros. to a dodgeball match? If the Inklings from Splatoon played freeze tag against Dogman and Captain Underpants? In this class, we will find out! Students will pick and/or invent characters they would like to pretend to be, and we will set these characters in motion in classic gym games like dodgeball, kickball, tag, sharks and minnows, and capture the flag. | 8-13 | Ryan Mills |
| Basketball | In this class, we will play basketball. Full court. Full steam. Nuff said! | 10-13 | Ryan Mills |
| (More) Handicrafts | We'll have fun creating cute and useful projects as we learn a variety of handicraft skills. We'll do basic hand sewing (including seams, buttons, and basic embroidery), and may explore other skills such as knitting or felting. This is a project-based class where everyone will work at their own pace, with adult support and guidance. Students who took Handicrafts last term are welcome to continue building their skills in this class - and students who are just starting out with the basics are welcome as well. Students should be ready to learn skills that require focus, fine motor skills, and the use of sharp tools. | 9-12 | Jaime Horst |
| No Fear Shakespeare: The Tragedies | Dive into Shakespeare's greatest tragedies with No Fear Shakespeare, a series that includes the bard's original language on one side of the page, and a modernized version on the other. Starting with Macbeth and moving on to Hamlet if time permits, we will read together in class, getting to know some of the most famous characters in literary history. There will be plenty of time for questions and discussions. Beginners welcome! Please note that students will need to obtain a copy of the text for use in class; these books are readily available online, or can be borrowed from most local libraries. | 12-18 | Allison Johnson |
| Mock Trial | mock trial helps students develop useful knowledge about the law, questioning techniques, critical thinking, and oral advocacy skills. | 11-18 | Ben Meyers |
| The Hobbit Book Study | Welcome to Middle Earth! Adventure into the world of J.R.R. Tolkien with this classic fantasy adventure story. Read or listen to the assigned reading each week, then come to class ready to discuss the story and other adjacent elements, including mythology, folklore, language, and more! Classtime will be a mix of discussion and hands on activities relating to the story. Students may choose to read or listen to the assigned reading each week, and will need to obtain their own copy of the book, which is readily available in most libraries and at used bookstores. | 9-14 | Allison Johnson |
| Mindfulness and Movement | Mindfulness and movement will help young kids describe and understand their emotions, thoughts and feelings and give them the tools to deal with them! The class will contain one story to be read to the kids, along with a themed activity based upon that idea, and then a portion of physical movement. | 4-6 | Andrew Medici, Kristin Swenson |
| Telling a story | Telling a story is for all our budding writers and novelists out there! The class will be a primer on the elements of storytelling, including the use of structure, humor and theme. The class will be part lecture, much more discussion, and hopefully will get the kids on their own path to writing. | 8-12 | Andrew Medici, Katie Frey |
| Animal Science | This class is all about animals! We will learn about habitats, classification, animal behavior and more through hands on experiments, games, and discussions. | 8-12 | Jennifer Sherrill |
| Early Reading | This class is geared to give children an introduction to the alphabet. In each class 1-2 letters will be introduced, explored, and a craft will be made. I will also bring fun books to read to the kids to inspire their love of reading and build vocabulary. If your child can already read, this class would not be much fun, but if letters are new to them, this will be engaging and they will leave the class with a portfolio of their learned letters. | 4-6 | Sherry Barnard |
| Animal Families | We will exlpore a variety of animal families from birds to reptiles, how they live, fun facts, and where we might find them. Each class will have some type of hands on activity, and classes will have books, videos, and lots of fun. | 8-12 | Sherry Barnard |
| Magic The Gathering | Bring your favorite deck and challenge your friends to see who has the best combinations and strategies. Some weeks will have unexpected twists. If you don’t have your own cards, we may be able to provide a deck for you to try. | 13-18 | Sherry Barnard |
| Micronation Building | Have you ever dreamed of creating a country? Micronations are imaginary countries that have a lot of the same things as real ones. This class will engage kids' imagination and teach make-believe rulers how the real world works. | 9-12 | Stephanie Sorenson Heidi Taylor |
| Fantasy Fiction Workshop | Interested in exploring how to write stories or novels full of magic, elves, or dragons? This class will explore the building blocks of fantasy fiction, including how to craft awesome characters, plots, and settings through example texts, guided writing exercises, free writing time, and sharing work with each other. Care will be taken to make sure critique is supportive and constructive. Other topics include: worldbuilding, fantasy subgenres, voice, theme, revision, a healthy writer’s mindset, and how to publish and share your work with the world. The class will also tie in with National Novel Writing Month in November. Some writing may be expected to be completed outside of class. Students should be able to write independently. | 12-18 | Rebecca Torbochkin, Katy Frey |
| Dungeons & Dragons | Play Dungeons & Dragons! Open to both new and experienced players. Practice roleplaying, math, social problem solving, collaborative storytelling, turn taking, listening, and teamwork. Players make characters and choose an adventure to take together. Addition and writing skills are helpful but not required. This is a cooperative game, with no PVP. | 8-12 | Rebecca Torbochkin, Christine Cato |
| Game Design | Are you a gamer? Do you wish you could make your own games, but don’t know where to start? Get bogged down in the details? In this project-based class, students will design games, prototype them, and test them on each other! We will discuss popular games and what elements make those games so fun for so many people. Concepts covered will include strategy and chance, theme and story, aesthetics, conflict, and rewards. Each class will have a short topic and discussion session followed by time for working and building. The last few weeks of class will be playing each other’s games. Games will be drawn and built out of paper, foam, cardboard, index cards, and other materials. Designers may also want to craft special game pieces or incorporate dice, chips, or tokens as part of their designs. An interest in board or card games as well as video games is helpful. Students will be able to choose what kind of game they design, including a video game, but prototyping and testing for video game designs will be all on paper. (Which is how plenty of pros do it anyway!) Students may choose to work in teams if desired. Students should be able to write out some basic game rules (but they don't need to be perfect), explain how their game works to others, and be interested in building, drawing, and creating with their hands. | 8-18 | Rebecca Torbochkin |
| Improv | Welcome to Improv! In this class, we will be learning primarily hands-on, so expect to be up and active the entire class. Bring your energy! We will be playing many improv games to help students learn to think on their feet and cooperate when building scenes with each other. Be prepared to talk, because we will be doing some monologue deconstruction in order to build up to actual scene work. Most importantly, come to class ready to have fun and laugh! | 12-19 | Mellisa Paden |
| Board Game Club | Enjoy board games? Card games? Dexterity games? Join us as we play and explore different games each week. This will be an entirely hands on class. If students have a game they world like to teach and share, we always encourage that! | 11-19 | Mellisa Paden |
| Fun with lettering | Fun with Lettering is a hands-on class where students make art with letters and explore how visual-style pairs with language to communicate. Intro concepts of typography, color, and design will be mentioned as they come up and students will be encouraged to experiment while also developing specific skills like drawing 3D letters, maintaining consistency in size and style, and observing differences in lettering styles. Students will probably enjoy the class more if they like to write or draw or craft, but no need to be particularly artistic. This class is about having fun, noticing what we see, embracing mistakes, and exploring what letters can say beyond just forming words. | 7-11 | Maralynn Jacoby |