Education & Classes in Waterford

Founders Jenny McCuiston, a high-school state swimming champ and Olympic-trial qualifier, and Chris McCuiston, a past MSU baseball captain and draft pick for the Detroit Tigers, know firsthand the positive effect learning a sport can have on a child's confidence and courage. When they realized what a high demand there was for quality swim lessons in the region they dedicated themselves to researching the industry and developing their trademark curriculum, and in 2006 the first Goldfish Swim School threw open its doors. Today, Red Cross–trained swim instructors at seven locations help little ones as young as 4 months get acquainted with the art of swimming with private swim lessons and classes of no more than four students. Youngsters splash and kick through their indoor pool kept toasty warm at 90 degrees while parents make encouraging fishy faces and pet fish make reproachful parenty faces from the glass-enclosed viewing area. Goldfish Swim School also hosts birthday celebrations and special events complete with colorful balloons and batches of cupcakes. Beach-themed decor splashes across each swim facility, creating a fun, laid-back environment that abounds with vibrant colors and animal accents. The Treasure Island pro shop boasts a range of aquatic accessories, and the snack shack doles out healthy treats and fresh-baked cookies.

For more than 75 years, Cranbook Academy of Art has enjoyed a reputation as one of the nation's leading independent graduate schools for art and design. Renowned graduates such as designer Florence Knoll, architect Hani Rashid, and fiber artist Nick Cave all honed their craft on the verdant 315-acre campus, where crammed lecture halls are replaced with small studios and students enjoy one-on-one mentorships with the Artists-In-Residence. Designed to inspire creativity as much as possible, the academy supplies each student with his or her own private studio space, and allows artists to design their own program of study without formal boundaries or beret-based dress codes.

The Cranbrook campus is a work of art in itself, owing the design of its original buildings to famed Finnish architect Ellel Saarinen. The academy further inspires its graduate students and the surrounding community with a museum that grew out of the eclectic personal collection of George Booth in 1930, and has grown to focus on the art, craft, design, and architecture of the 20th, 21st, and 22nd centuries.

Flight 101 has been leading aspiring pilots into the skies for more than four decades. Students begin their avian education seated in a Cessna or Diamond Star aircraft, where they learn liftoff and landing procedures from FAA--certified instructors. All training sessions are held one on one and allow students to feed a fleeting itch for flight or work toward a private pilot license's 40 hours of flight time. Flight 101 operates out of a towered airport—enhancing radio communications and ground operations—and keeps an FAA examiner onsite to ensure clouds don’t form themselves into four-letter words.

Time Too Savor helps its clients side step the pressure of cooking on a nightly basis by inviting them to pre-assemble entrees and sides in-store before taking them home to finish later. The menu changes monthly, although previous items have included pan-fried tortilla rolls of chicken, green chilies, and goat cheese, and Thai-flavored pork tenderloin with coconut, cilantro, and peanuts. After planning meals online, guests arrive at their appointed time and portion out servings of pre-cut ingredients, tailoring the recipes to their liking and leaving any mess for the staff to tidy up after. Each meal comes with simple instructions for heating and serving, which allows customers to quickly prepare menu items at the nearest kitchenware trade show.

For more than 28 years, the professional casino and bar personnel at Bar and Casino Trainers have shared their on-the-job expertise through hands-on lessons that open doors to lucrative new careers. During mixology training courses, students step behind the bar to train with real equipment as they craft cocktails and learn useful customer-service skills. Alternately, casino courses impart the finer points of card dealing and equipment handling required for state and national certification to run games as diverse as roulette, poker, craps, and blackjack. Once students master skills such as double-deck blackjack dealing and patron interaction, they learn about the finer points of when to bluff and when to fold in a job interview. Casino course graduates have been placed in high-profile casinos such as MGM Grand Casino Detroit Downtown, the Caesar's in Windsor, and Las Vegas as well as having trained students that have participated in the World Series of Poker tournament.

After pupils complete their coursework, the company's job-placement director draws on a decade of experience and a wealth of business connections to introduce students to prospective employers enjoying the steady job growth, flexible hours, and competitive wages of the nightlife industry.