Let’s paint your stuff! Bookbags, notebooks, jean jackets, vinyl and plastic toys, gaming controllers and systems, phone and air pod cases… almost anything you want. Have a pair of jeans that is missing something? Let’s paint those. Remember Funko Pops? Let’s make them awesome! Want sneakers that no one has ever seen? Let’s make them! We will be painting and customizing anything that could use a personal touch, a new look, or an artistic eye to make it amazing. Some items will be provided but feel free to bring your own things!

Learn how to maintain and do basic repairs on your car or truck! Activities will include oil changes, tire rotation and repair, brake inspection and repair, and basic electric. This course offers students the chance to study the workings of the automobile firsthand. Careers and education in the field will also be discussed.

Learn the basics of guitar playing, including chords, strumming, fingerpicking, and playing melodies. Learn to accompany familiar songs and create a plan of development, post-Summer Academy!  (Students should bring a guitar if possible; there may be some available for class use only ).

Do you want to write a really great college essay before school even starts? In this five-day workshop, we will generate ideas, choose a topic, and create a rough draft to turn into a polished gem. Daily feedback will be provided, and you will produce an informative and engaging essay that is within the 600-word limit.

Preparing food is not only a lot of fun—it can also empower students and teach them fundamental life skills! Through this course, students will learn about different aspects of cooking, including food safety, nutrition, and how to create a variety of different dishes.

Students will learn to use Adobe Photoshop to create guided projects such as designing their own food truck, creating a robot, and constructing a room in perspective.  Students will also create other projects of their choosing.

In this summer experience, students will explore drawing and painting in fresh ways, studying the watercolors inspired by the art of Oscar Bluemner.  There will also be exercises in printmaking with bubble wrap and painting. Students will also be invited to draw from life using found color and to explore other choice based representational processes.

Learn to identify herbaceous and woody plants in and around Red Hook! This class will be hands-on and involve using field guides, plant sampling, and drawing to identify and understand plants. Permission pending, there will be field trips to local parks, farms, herbaria, greenhouses, and college arboreta.

Learn how to unplug and get back to basics! This course will focus on self-sufficiency and sustainability skills, such as building a campfire, fishing, campfire cooking, building shelter and planting crops. Based at LAMS. Field trips included.

Participants will learn how to design, write, and draw a comic book or a graphic novel. Using a workshop approach and small groups, the class will explore the art of comics and graphic novels, the use of narrative structure & storytelling, and the design and production of a comic. Participants will also create a work of their own!

Students will start from the ground up, literally! The success of a garden or farm depends on everything from the soil beneath your feet to how you cook a beet. With shovels in hand, our budding green thumbs will explore soil and plant identification, planting, pruning, ecology, maintenance, design, harvesting, and even cooking! This gardening intensive requires no prior experience and you're guaranteed to go home with more than just dirty shoes! Location: Mill Road Garden.

Come learn the basics of hand embroidery and quilting! We’ll spend time learning basic stitches, how to choose and transfer designs, and how to display finished work. We’ll also focus on the mindful, calming qualities of these crafts, spending time focusing on our breath, listening to music, and creating community. No prior experience or knowledge is necessary, and experienced hand-sewers can experiment with advanced techniques.

During our time together, we will read and discuss nature poetry to reflect on presence, observation, and stillness. We will use exemplars, as well as mindfulness practices, to guide the writing of original poetry that reflects a similar style.

Have you ever thought that acting could be fun, but never tried? Are you an aspiring student of theater who wants to hone your skills for auditions? This course is for all levels of theater students who want to learn about acting and auditions. We will discuss the sorts of roles we hope to perform, select monologues, and prepare them for performance. We will learn basic skills such as diction and character-development. Finally, we will work on memorization, developing resumes, and other skills of performing/auditioning.

Preparing for the SATs can be a daunting task. It can be difficult to get motivated and it can also be a bit confusing. Why are certain answers correct and others not? Are there test taking strategies that can help you do better? We will explore all of these facets and more—and hopefully give you the confidence you need to succeed. We will begin by doing sample tests and reviewing answers before moving onto test taking strategies and techniques.