Education & Classes in West Palm Beach

Not many actors can say they've performed in a production directed by a 12-year-old, but Erin Coley has always had an instinctive sense of how to put on a show. Years later, she and her husband, J.R., founded Standing Ovation Performing Arts, assembling eight other experts in the field to encourage kids to get on the stage as early as possible. Improv comedy, puppetry, and playwriting help students express themselves while giving them the skills to deliver confident class presentations and rousing monologues on the futility of naptime.

Rick Eggert can take the heat. During his daily labors in front of a 2,400-degree furnace, he gathers wads of molten glass on a metal rod in order to stretch, cut, and bend the glowing silica into eye-catching forms. Eggert received his BFA in glass sculpture over a decade ago, and has since traveled from his native New York to Tahiti, New Zealand, Thailand, and finally Florida, where he founded Lotus Design Group. There, he oversees a small production line where he practices both centuries-old Venetian techniques and more modern approaches to the form to create pieces both for commercial sale and to fulfill his own artistic inspiration. Additionally, Eggert leads a variety of classes that explore these techniques through a hands-on approach, where students learn to craft their own bowls, vases, and stone-proof glass houses.

For more than 35 years, Palm Beach has seen flocks of Tradewinds Flight School's students soar into its clear skies and over its blue-green waters. The company's certified flying instructors unlock the secrets to navigating aviation landscapes. Nestled within the cockpits of single- and multiengine aircraft, they send prospective pilots soaring toward private licenses and professional careers farming cotton candy from the clouds. Using an FAA-approved curriculum, the pilots operate out of Fort Pierce International Airport, and can cater their lessons to a student's desired pace. The veteran pilots also charter flights, leaving passengers free to relax and give directions to lost birds.