Education & Classes in Carmichael

Gina Rossi's art comes to life in a flurry of sparks and cauldrons of heat. A self-taught artist and certified metal-inert-gas (MIG) welder, her work incorporates fused glass, paintings, and organic metal figures, and has been featured in the Sacramento Press, as well as KCRA Channel 3 news. When she was young, Rossi's forays into art and imagination provided stable solace from her tumultuous and oft-troubled childhood, and her passion eventually flowered into a full-time endeavor. Through her growth as an artist, she adopted a trash-into-treasure approach, working with recycled metal and glass, and earning notoriety for getting Oscar the Grouch evicted to craft a piece from his former home. Her regular welding and fused-glass-art classes share her talents with eager students, as do her efforts with community art projects, which empower young, disabled, and elderly people to make their creative mark in the world.

Head photographer Kevin Richtik began his career at Caroline Photography in 1986. He rose through the ranks, adapting his skills to the ever-changing technology without abandoning his core mission to create beautiful, storytelling images. He lends his eye to brides and grooms, families, and graduating seniors, immortalizing candid moments and authentic smiles. His photography, and that of his staff, earned the business recognition from Record as the one of San Joaquin’s best family photography studios of 2012.

Napoli Culinary Academy founder and international chef Hassi Sadri—whose infinite pizza knowledge earned him the head judge position at the international pizza competition in Las Vegas—leads culinary initiates through the planning and preparation of pizzas and calzones during cooking classes, whether for fun or to achieve a culinary-arts diploma. During hands-on classes, groups of students pick the seasoned chef's brain for useful tidbits on the graceful art of pie production as they assemble their own saucy slices out of fresh produce and ingredients. Academy students serve lunch in the Napoli Culinary Academy Café and cater special events while showing off skills crucial to their future careers as gourmet chefs, from carving meats to plating entrees. The school also invites pupils to 24-, 200-, or 325-credit-hour baking courses, which range from specialized introductory classes to those in professional-level pastry production.

The FAA-certified instructors at Future Eagles Aviation put clients behind the controls of actual aircraft as they teach them the ins and outs of aviation. Students amass skills such as navigation and cockpit familiarity on the ground in adventure flight school before lifting off in a Cessna 172 training aircraft for 30 minutes of flight time. Kids can also take to the sky during Future Eagles Aviation’s youth aviation summer camp, a weeklong foray into the world of cloud skimming and Peter Pan mimicry during which kids aged 10 and older practice on simulators and log real flight hours in training aircraft.

Inspired by the slow-food movement, the instructors at Community Tap and Table encourage everyone to make food deliberately and from scratch. Their events include techniques for such projects as curing bacon at home, canning and preserving food, and making tea-smoked salmon. Several of their cooking classes include beer pairings, and glasses of craft brew clink together during a foodie book club, punctuating chatter. Customizable private parties bring beer and food into the comfort of clients’ own homes, where they and a few friends enjoy cooking and pairing lessons from staff chefs wielding local ingredients. A portion of Community Tap and Table’s proceeds funnels straight back into funding farm-to-table projects or job-training resources for students.

McLaughlin Studios employs a team of professional performing artists to teach private and group lessons in instrumental music, dance, and musical theater. Private music lessons further an individual's proficiency in pop, jazz, rock, classical, and show-tunes styles, whereas group sessions encourage cohesive learning for bands and ensembles prepping for three annual recitals. Adept dancers help protégés progress at their own pace as they learn complex steps and how to dodge tossed rose bouquets with creative movement, ballet, strength training, and modern dance-fusion styles.

Started just a year ago, the McLaughlin Theatre Company gathers youth performers for independent productions at the MTC Playhouse. Young thespians hone their on-stage and auditioning skills in acting classes, which serve as more secure steps toward performing in Broadway musicals than thumb-wrestling matches with Andrew Lloyd Weber.