Lake Placid Central School District faculty members Amanda Blacksmith, left, and Anna Gemzova smile at one of Lake Placid Elementary School Principal Sonja Franklin’s “Painting with the Principal” classes in March 2023. (Provided photo)

LAKE PLACID — Lake Placid Central School District will offer free adult community classes later this month for the third time since the district’s community school program began two years ago.

“We’re really excited to be able to bring different types of classes to the community,” said Lauren St. Louis, community school program administrative assistant.

The five courses — each open to between 10 and 20 people — were announced on Feb. 21. As of the beginning of March, they were all completely booked, with some even starting wait lists. Each course has two sessions throughout the month.

LPCSD art teacher Sandy Huber is teaching a two-class course on hand-built functional pottery. She said it was a great way for her to spend more time with her hobbies.

“Last summer, I bought a shed and turned it into a pottery studio in my yard, so I’ve been really — not just as a teacher, but as an artist — excited about pottery lately,” she said. “This class, I was really excited. It filled up fast.”

Lake Placid Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Allison Smith, left, and first-grade teacher Stacey Martin smile at one of Principal Sonja Franklin’s “Painting with the Principal” classes in March 2023. (Provided photo)

Huber is going to be teaching her students how to build pottery by hand with the slab technique — that is, attaching flat sheets, or slabs, of clay together to form objects such as vases, planters and birdhouses. During the first class, students will learn construction techniques and build their pieces. At the second class, they will learn different approaches to glazing and decoration. By the end of the two classes, they’ll have pieces of functional pottery for their homes.

Community classes are a great way to show adults the advantages of local schools, Huber said.

“It’s great for people to see what equipment and resources we have,” she said. “A lot of the people who signed up are people with kids in the schools, so it’ll be cool teaching the parents of my students and former students, and they can see some of the things that their kids have been learning.”

St. Louis is also offering a course in March. Hers is focused on making jewelry, a pandemic hobby that she turned into a business.

“I was super excited to participate and bring the hobby to a larger scale,” she said. “I do polymer clay (jewelry). … I started out watching TikTok tutorials and Instagram reels and have kind of gone from there. It’s many different colors and different tools that we’re going to use.”

A group of Lake Placid Principal Sonja Franklin’s painting students pose with their paintings after their class on Dec. 14, 2023. (Provided photo)

St. Louis said her favorite piece of jewelry to make is earrings, which she wears every day. She hopes that her class will inspire others to pick up a new crafty hobby. Her class is full this time, but she hopes to offer another one in the future.

“Everyone seems to love (the classes),” she said. “You don’t have to have a child in the school to be able to be involved.”

Every round of classes has brought different offerings to the Lake Placid community. St. Louis said the district’s goal is to offer something new every time. Aside from St. Louis and Huber’s courses, this round also includes pickleball, fly fishing and candle making.

Past classes have included dance, cooking, Shakespeare, fitness and painting. The painting course, taught by Lake Placid Elementary School principal Sonja Franklin, was offered twice due to popularity.

“I’ve done two rounds here at the school of three classes each, and I’ve had some students attend all of them,” Franklin said. “I’m starting to get a little bit of a following.”

From the adult community classes, Franklin’s popularity as a painting teacher has grown. She now teaches painting classes at NewVida Preserve in Jay. Franklin said that her initial involvement in the adult community classes came from a desire to spend more time with her hobby.

“I needed to do something different,” she said. “It forced me to take some time (and paint).”

The most inspiring part of the classes was seeing her students grow as artists, she said. Some students even went out and bought art supplies of their own.

She said that she enjoyed the opportunity for community members to see her in a different role than her usual position as their children’s principal.

“I think it’s a great way for the community to get into the schools, a place they might not feel comfortable with,” she said. “(And) it allows me to get to know the community members in a different way.”

LPCSD’s adult community classes are full for this round. To find out about the next round, which has yet to be scheduled, keep an eye on the school district’s Facebook page.