Education & Classes in Bethany

Determined to keep their students interested and engaged, the instructors of Wine and Palette hold classes at myriad locations throughout the city. Each class focuses on a different art piece, be it a painting of a stained-glass window, a multihued owl, or an autumn farm scene. Additionally, each artist brings their own outlook and skills to the class, helping students learn specific brush strokes and how to touch up their daily driver so it looks just like the sheriff’s squad car.

For 22 years, the Oklahoma School of Bartenders has instructed up-and-coming mixologists in the art of pouring drinks and managing the masses. The school’s classroom mimics a real bar, with shelves of liquor, vital tools, and three guys trying to beat the record on Deer Hunter at pupils’ disposal. Students get behind the bar to practice shaking and stirring under the careful supervision of teachers, all of whom have been training bartenders since 1988. Afterward, a job-placement program helps newly certified students land drink-slinging positions.

Christa Carretero packed up and moved to San Francisco in 2003, where she began her journey into the culinary world. After attending the California Culinary Academy, Christa switched coasts and found herself living and working as a chef at a variety of restaurants in Washington, DC, where she further honed her skills. Finally finding herself in a geographical compromise between East and West, Christa now runs Cooking Girl catering in Oklahoma City, where she oversees a host of menus, from Christmas dinners to casual box lunches and party trays. Christa also leads a variety of weekly cooking classes, with themes that range from Summer Desserts to All About Steaks, where small groups of students learn basic skills, kitchen techniques, and how to wield an 8-inch knife in a way that is least threatening to vegetables.

At The Scuba Shack, the staff’s family-oriented lessons encourage divers to take social rather than solo ventures into the blue beyond. Each instructor carries an impressive résumé of underwater travels—the head trainer has been diving for more than 20 years and others have logged more than 1,000 dives. Captaining PADI-certification courses and specialty seminars—which cover topics such as night diving, photography, and fish identification—they take groups on open-water excursions to area lakes and Clear Spring Scuba Park. They prioritize educating their charges with safe and enjoyable teachings, rather than monotonous quizzes on whether the bends is a serious health issue or a 1980s punk band. With trips to dive sites in Fiji and Mexico, they introduce divers to the visual wonder of reefs and aquatic wildlife throughout the world.

Aqua-Tots Swim School's instructors train swimmers in the art of buoyancy through an array of services, specializing in teaching youngsters aged 6 months–14 years in small groups. The instructors boast at least two years of teaching experience, have all completed 32 hours in the company’s Lessons for Life training program, and have aced the water-safety instructor exam with flying colors.

Children are placed in one of eight class levels—from level one Tadpoles for kids aged 6–18 months, which acquaints infants with the pool, to level eight Stingrays for more experienced children who want to refine their strokes to one day sting a jellyfish. In each class, no more than four students train under the watchful eye of their instructor in the 90-degree indoor pool. In addition to the children’s program, the instructors also lead adult swim classes and train patrons for both swim competitions and first aid.

Sharyn Jump introduces students to the stress-relieving potential of art in laid-back classes that comprise equal parts fun and instruction. During the two- to three-hour sessions and multiday workshops at Sharyn's Paint 'N Crafts Studio, visitors work with varied media such as acrylics, oils, watercolors, charcoal, or colored pencils to create completed art pieces, which they can take home for display or graciously donate to the nearest museum.

A team of resident artists mentors pupils in different styles, such as the One Stroke painting technique taught by guest artist Donna Dewberry. At birthday parties or open-studio sessions, participants may bring their own food or alcohol to foster a celebratory atmosphere.