Education & Classes in Trenton

The diver double-checks all her gear before leaving the surefootedness of the boat and falling into the deep water, where she explores shipwrecks and seemingly untouched expanses throughout the Michigan Underwater Preserves in the Great Lakes. The team of PADI- and SSI-certified instructors at Scuba Centers of Michigan helps students prepare for these types of adventures every day, covering advanced topics such as diving at night and how to properly greet a sturgeon. The instructors also start from the beginning, teaching basic open-water diving techniques, which their pupils practice in the onsite heated pool. To complement its courses, the center stocks gear from equipment brands such as McNett, Aqua Lung, and Suunto, and it organizes diving trips to South Africa and Australia.

At Mordent Music, 10-year teaching veteran Stephanie Teller calls upon her experiences as a schoolteacher and professional concert pianist as she shares her passion for tickling keys with aspiring Chopins of all ages and skill levels. During half-hour or longer piano lessons, Teller beckons proteges over to a rich, resonant baby grand to learn how to play contemporary pop, country, or hip-hop songs as well as more traditional classical music. Teller instructs younger pupils through lively games and creative exercises, and challenge older, more serious students with the Royal Conservatory of Music curriculum, which elevates piano proficiency through written study and a regimen of 100 finger pushups a day.

Czech glass, polymer clay, and Swarovski crystals glitter along the walls of Stony Creek Bead's interior, waiting to add their sparkle to bracelets, necklaces, and baubles created by visiting beaders. Buyable jewelry crafted by local artisans also dots the shelves and displays, lending inspiration as they await purchase. The knowledgeable and patient staff leads the way to customer-created wares, referencing the shop’s kits, books, patterns, and tools, and leading classes on beading techniques, jewelry making, and lessons on why the “a” in bead is silent.

Since the visionary artistic husband-and-wife team of Chris Nordin and Michelle Plucinsky began Glass Academy, the state-certified glass-arts trade school has instilled glassblowing, stained-glass, and other silica-shaping know-how into community members. The duo leads classes for all skill levels of craftsmen, ranging from introductory sessions to private lessons with a master glassblower. An on-site gallery showcases the fruits of their labors, which customers take home once they are completed. Handcrafted, custom works such as paperweights, beer mugs, and signature piece Detroit puddle, created by pouring hot glass over a sewer cap, are available for purchase.

When not shaping delicate masterpieces, the staff shares their love of art with the outside world, leading educational tours of their 14,000-square-foot studio space. They also host gatherings including parties with demonstrations and explanations of the glass-blowing process as well as corporate training events, during which employees participate in a teambuilding, hands-on workshop. Glass Academy frequently hosts other fun events and fundraisers, including beer tastings, coffee nights, and drop-in workshops.

Sonoran Glass School may sound like a Hollywood stuntman school, since students are encouraged to play with glass, flame, and saws. However, their in-depth glass-working classes teach pupils how to create delicate objets d'art under the watchful eye of a host of experienced instructors. Torchworking classes teach pupils how to shape their own paperweights and vases out of molten glass, and facet-cutting courses let students create mosaics depicting abstract designs or themselves making mosaics of abstract designs. Kids' and adult classes offer age-appropriate instruction, and an 10-student class cap for most courses ensures plenty of one-on-one time with the teacher.

Part of the venerable Paul Mitchell network, the Salt Lake City school channels its doctrines of style and technique through a squad of students supervised by professional instructors. Inside the school’s 22,000-square-foot facility, beauty-gurus-to-be assuredly snip away during haircuts, each of which includes a five-minute scalp massage, and slather on lactic-acid peels, each of which includes a five-minute memoriam to dead skin cells. Tresses can be smoothed into submission with a flatiron, curled into a hirsute coil, or stylishly swept into an updo. Students complement these many shapes with bold or subtle coloring treatments, sometimes relying on block or dimensional color to add depth.

Paul Mitchell the School trains its students to be citizens of the world as well as ambassadors of beauty. The school sets an example worth following with its eco-friendly practices and support for charitable causes that give back to the local community.