Education & Classes in Mercer Island

When Joan Barnes founded Gymboree Play & Music in 1976, she envisioned a facility where parents and children could play together in a safe and age-appropriate environment. In the following decades, Gymboree Play & Music spread to more than 30 countries across the globe, helping youngsters from infants to 5 years old develop cognitive, physical, and social skills. The company's instructors lead classes such as Play & Learn, its flagship course, in which parents and kids move through a seven-level program filled with storytelling, play activities, and debates on the merits of sandwich crust. Talented staffers also prep youngsters for school and foster development in areas such as music, art, and sports. Throughout all classes, they make use of custom play equipment designed by acclaimed playground designer and seesaw-tamer Jay Beck.:m]]

When Photo Center NW was originally founded in the early 1980s it was known as the Exposure School of Photography. Since then it has undergone numerous transformations, some of which included becoming a nonprofit organization and an accredited member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. Now standing as a mecca for students and creators in the Pacific Northwest art community, the center hosts regular exhibitions in addition to a robust curriculum of classes and workshops. Their faculty conducts 53-credit certification programs and 10-week courses within the facility’s four labs devoted to black-and-white and digital photography. The building also houses an immense reference library and plans to add a daylight studio and a playground for the cameras to relax in the very near future.

Through hands-on training and practice sessions in a mock bar, Seattle Bartending College's experienced team of instructors has trained new generations of cocktail crafters and beer pourers since 1980. Broken into 14 sections, classes cover more than 100 types of alcohol, recipes for 150 drinks, and how to master freehand pouring and measuring techniques rather than arduously transferring booze from bottle to glass with a pipette. Along with the nitty-gritty of creating beverages, teachers refine their pupils' customer-service skills, and collaborate with local distilleries and breweries for in-depth seminars on their products. Instructors schedule class in one-week, two-week, or weekend sessions, allowing students to take refresher courses or repeat any class as often as they need. Once students earn their certification and license, the college's staff helps them secure local and nationwide jobs with resume-writing assistance, interview practice, and job leads.

Seattle Can Can owner and instructor Vic Phelps has put up produce in her kitchens for more than 35 years and happily imparts her tricks and techniques to all levels of curious canners. Vic reaches into her deep knowledge of equipment, canning physics, and the favorite Frank Sinatra songs of strawberries to teach classes on pickling, jams, and all-purpose canning for novice or experienced produce preservers.

A Sikorsky 300C training helicopter and fleet of Cessna 172 airplanes lift new aviators into the air during Airwork LLC's flight-training classes for both commercial and private pilots. Experienced instructors lead introductory flights that combine on-the-ground lessons with assisted flies, allowing students to get their wings wet as they learn a new skill that may someday translate into a career as an aerial photographer, movie stuntman, or raincloud repairman. Students keep track of their progress toward licensure in pilot logbooks, and Airwork also maintains a comprehensive online-training library with important documents and handbooks for both helicopter and airplane training.

With a total of 14 locations, sewing and quilting classes, and a cornucopia of handpicked sewing products, Quality Sewing & Vacuum offers needle wielders all the necessities for their projects. Experts helm free sessions that teach participants how to use their sewing machines to work toward reinventing an old skirt or craft an elegant canine wedding gown, while special events feature guest speakers who impart home decor, garment construction, quilting, and embroidery tips to audience members. Shoppers can peruse the cache of sewing machines from brands such as Singer, Pfaff, and Brother alongside accessories, embroidery designs, and vacuums that clean up rooms after testing out how easy it is to find a needle in a haystack.