Class Information - Free Enrichment Classes

STEM for Boys

Mondays | 4:00-5:00 p.m. | Grades 4th-5th | February 26th, March 4th, March 11th ON ZOOM | March 18th & 25th In Person

Taught by Jake, a Junior at Montclair Kimberley Academy who loves all things STEM related!

Want to fall in love with STEM? Learning STEM can be fun. Students will learn math and science in fun ways with interactive equations and experiments!

Chess

Mondays | 5:15-6:15 p.m. | Grades 3rd-12th | February 26th, March 4th, 11th, 18th & 25th | In person

Chess coach Steve Moctezuma has taught enrichment chess classes and summer chess camps at S2G and other schools for many years.

Win, lose, or draw, chess promotes good sportsmanship, resilience, and creative problem solving skills. Students will be given mini-chess lessons and opportunities to hone their chess skills via exercises and practice games.

Read Along Project for English Language Enrichment

Wednesdays | 5:00-6:00 p.m. | Grades K-3rd & 4th-6th | March 6th, 13th, 20th & 27th | In person

Taught by students from Konnekt Global, an organization run by children of first-generation immigrants who wish to give back to their community and bridge the gap caused by a lack of education and opportunities.

Students will gain a better understanding of what they are reading and be able to portray themes and ideas shown in the book. Students will engage with their older peers and have a fun, enriching experience!

Grades 1st-3rd will read a grade-appropriate book, have a discussion about it after the reading, and finish off with an art project related to the book.
Grades 4th-6th will read from The Secret Lake, followed by a creative writing prompt regarding the book.

Dance

Thursdays | 4:00-5:00 p.m. | Grades 1st-5th | February 29, March 7th & 14th | In person

Dance teacher Mia Freeman

This hip-hop style dance class is a fun way to improve your dance skills. Anyone can participate in this class whether you are a beginner, intermediate, or more advanced. Class will start with a short warm-up before we begin to teach a short combination so that the kids can learn a real dance. Students don’t need any prior dance experience. All that is needed is an open mind and for everyone to be ready to have fun!

Introduction to Game Development – Python

Thursdays | 4:30-5:30 p.m. | Grades 6th-8th | February 29th, March 7th, 14th, 21st, & 28th | In person

Taught by 11th-grade student Tim S., who has been working on a variety of programming projects and courses (mainly in Python) consistently for around four years. His goal is to teach curious new students how to get started in the computer science and the coding field by introducing them to the various aspects of Python.

In this beginner-friendly course, students will use a popular game development framework called Pygame to create their very own games in the widely-used coding language, Python. Students will have the option of doing a private or group-based project depending on their preferences. Although students will have this option, this course will promote collaborative learning through group discussion and idea development. No experience is required to take part in this program.

Week 1: Introduction to Python – students will review the basics of the Python coding language.
Week 2: Graphics – students will learn how to draw with color to the screen using code, and to import images to use in their game graphics.
Week 3: Game Logic – students will learn how to implement if-statements (reviewed in the first week) in their games, allowing students to add variability and conditional logic to their games.
Weeks 4 and 5: Final Project – student will use the skills they learned in previous classes to create a final project of their choosing.

Girls STEM

Tuesdays | 5:00-6:00 p.m. | Grades 1st-3rd | March 12th, 19th, 26th & April 2nd | In person

Taught by Alisha Gupta, 8th-grade student at Millburn Middle School

Students will go through a series of projects & the scientific properties
Examples include: lava lamps, egg drop challenge, oil rainbow

Girls Lab

Tuesdays | 5-6PM | Grades 4th-6th | February 27th, March 5th, 26th & April 2nd | In person

Taught by Nahlia Udofia, 10th-grade student at Montclair Kimberly Academy

GirlsLab will be a weekly workshop that provides free, high-quality, and fun STEM activities for children in the Montclair area. Girls will get to explore the world of STEM in a safe, exciting, and hands-on atmosphere. They will have the ability to work on their own engineering projects, learning key skills such as leadership and communication along the way. By offering these workshops, Nahlia hopes to broaden the participation of women in STEM while simultaneously maximizing educational recourse to those who do not regularly have access.

Junior Gardeners

Wednesdays | 4:00-5:00 p.m. | Grades 1st-5th | February 28th, March 6th, 13th & 20th, 27th & April 3rd | In person

Classes are held at Montclair Community Services Center, 11 Pine Street

Montclair Community Farms is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to educating and engaging the community around farm, food, and health. In this class, Junior Gardeners will learn about the essentials of growing their own food including seeding, cultivating healthy soil, and composting! Each child will engage in environmental science investigations each week, and gain hands-on gardening experience germinating their own seeds at the end of the class that can be planted in a home garden later this spring. Through hands-on activities, these young gardeners will not only have fun, but gain valuable skills, practice responsibility, and cultivate healthy eating habits and greater interest in vegetables along the way!

Outdoor Gardening

This class is once a month for five months, join one or all!

Wednesdays | 4:00-5:00 p.m. | Grades K-12th | March 27th, April 24th, May 29th, June 26th, July 31st | In person

The garden is located behind 16 Miller Street

Come join the Montclair Community Farms team for a monthly afternoon gardening session! We will meet on the last Wednesday of each month to tend to our garden space at 16 Miller St. Our group will do garden clean-up like weeding, mulching, and pruning; plant seeds and seedlings; and harvest delicious produce for our Mobile Farm Stand market. Working together in the garden will give us all the opportunity to enjoy fresh air and exercise, build our community, and gain hands-on learning experiences all about botany, ecology, and nutrition along the way!

Graphic Memoir Class: Tell Your Story

Wednesdays | 4:00-5:00 p.m. | Grades 3rd-5th | February 28th, March 6th, 13th, 20th & 27th | In Person

In this class, students will explore their family's unique heritage and traditions. They will write an illustrated story about their family's place of origin, from ancestral legends to cherished recipes. Emphasis will be on each student valuing their unique history and the role it plays in the tapestry of today's culture.