Enrichment Clubs: Fall 2024

Mondays, Grades 4-5

Chris Amato

In this class, students will be invited to select one among ten or so instrument making options. This initial discovery stage will involve looking at the many creative ways that people from a range of cultures "reuse" or "up-cycle" materials to make functional instruments and music. Using materials provided by the instructor and optionally contributed by parents, each child will be guided in constructing and refining their selected instrument. The students will build their instruments over the first few weeks. In the second half of the season, students will use "ranked choice voting" to select a song that we will learn to play as a group. The instructor will provide a beginner-friendly arrangement of the song that allows the kids to play the song using their instruments. Time permitting, we will perform our piece for parents and students at the end of the session. Open to students in grades 4-5 with some interest in music, music making, working with their hands, and collaboration and cooperation, or possibly 3rd graders with special permission.

*$15 materials fee*

Mondays, Grades 2-3

Sakiya Bisher-Nea

We are lucky to be surrounded by beautiful woods, fields and mountains. On our walks we will learn how to explore this nature safely and responsibly. We will learn some basic plant identification and new ways of observing the seasons changing. Open to students in grades 2-3, and possibly some 1st graders if space allows.

Mondays, Grades 3-5

John Baiet

Come join the Leeds Basketball Club to learn the fundamentals of basketball from how to dribble, shoot, pass, and work as a team. Through group and partner activities, students will learn social skills through this fun team sport. Open to students in 3rd-5th grades with all levels of basketball experience.

Mondays, Grades 3-5

Melissa Gilman

Come get your hands dirty in the Ceramic Arts Club! We will be learning various clay handbuilding techniques including but not limited to: pinch pots, coil building, and slab building. We will use these techniques to create both functional and sculptural pieces. Bring your imagination and wear clothes you don't mind getting dirty! Open to students in grades 3-5.

*$30 materials fee*

Tuesdays, Grades 2-5

Sophie Gill

Come learn about the process for creating zines and short comic books, and create your own. Put your creative ideas to paper! Open to students in grades 2-5.

Tuesdays AND Thursdays, Grade 1

Ms. Intrator and Ms. Flynn

Join Ms. Intrator, Ms. Flynn, and our Smith College volunteers to work on reading skills. This club is for 1st graders and will run on Tuesdays AND Thursdays October 1st through November break from 2:15-3:15pm. Students should be picked up at 3:15pm, or may be added to Late Bird to 4:15 or 5:15.

Tuesdays, Grades 3-5

Cathy Dillard

Come learn the basics of ultimate frisbee. We will do drills, run sprints, and scrimmage! Open to students in grades 3-5.

Tuesdays, Grades 1-3

Allison Hayes

Making autumn fairy garden at Leeds! If you like being outdoors, getting creative, and using your imagination, this is the group for you! We will be going for walks, collecting sticks/ leaves/ rocks/ other materials to build our garden, working together/ sharing ideas, and painting birdhouses and rocks! Open to students in grades 1-3.

*$10 materials fee*

Wednesdays, Grades 3-5

Caden Boeri

Being part of a choral ensemble offers very unique learning opportunities. During our rehearsal time, we will prepare music for various performances throughout the school year. The students will learn how to sing with proper technique and sound. Most importantly, they will work together as a team to craft a beautiful and unified choral sound, and will perform in a concert at the end of the session. Open to students in grades 3-5.

*$10 materials fee*

Wednesdays, Grades 1-5

Ms. Nagle

In Board Games club, we will start with familiar and easy to learn games, like Candyland and Spot It, and work our way up to new and more challenging games. Students will be introduced to a new game each week, from collaborative games to strategy games and Chess/Checkers. Open to game lovers at all levels of experience in grades 1-5.

Wednesdays, Grades 3-5

Ms. Macutkiewicz and Ms. Pelis

Would you like to learn or practice Cursive Writing? How would you like to put your writing skills into practice by writing poetry and creating illustrations to go with them? With Ms. Pelis and Ms. Macutkiewicz, we will learn about cursive writing while learning how to create all the capital letters of the alphabet as well as learn how to write our name in capital and lowercase letters.  As part of this course, we will create a Haiku and make illustrations to go along with our poetry. Open to Grades 3-5.

Thursdays, Grades 3-5

Scott Fitzmeyer

Do you have stories to tell about what's happening here at Leeds, or want to help others share their stories? Join our newspaper club to create the fifth edition of our very own school newspaper - The Leeds Leopard! Stories, interviews, investigations, the funny pages... we do it all! Open to students in grades 3-5.

Thursdays, Grades 3-5

Greg Baker

Do you love football? Do you dream of coaching your own football team to a championship? Do you love watching highlights of games? Then fantasy football club might just be for you! Each week, students will meet on Thursdays and select the NFL players they want on their teams. The following Thursday, students will look at the statistics from the previous weeks games to determine which players scored the most fantasy points!  Then they will draft a new team for the next week. Just like an online fantasy football league, but we will do it all in person with helpful tech tools and fun competitive spirit! Open to students in grades 3-5.

Thursdays, Grades 3-5

Andrea Yurko

This is a more advanced session of our Fiber Arts club, for students with some previous experience and/or students who are motivated to learn new techniques and work on independent projects. Students will explore knitting, crochet, embroidery, and/or sewing and will work on independent projects while listening to some podcasts or audio books! Open to students in grades 3-5, and possibly some 2nd graders, with prior experience.

*$15 materials fee*

Fridays, Grades 3-5

Seth Brosnan

Bike club is a chance to learn about bikes and bike safety. On nice weather days we will go on bike rides together to nearby destinations, such as Look Park, and on indoor days we'll learn about bike parts and bike maintenance. Be prepared to ride if it's raining lightly. Open to students with basic biking skills in grades 3-5 (or 2nd graders with special permission if space allows). *must have a Bike with Gears, Helmet, Reusable Water bottle, Snack, Sneakers, and Weather appropriate clothing every day, and you must be able to have your child's bike parked at the upper loop by 2pm. Contact us if you do not own a bike, helmet, or reusable water bottle and need assistance getting one.

Fridays, Grades 3-4

Terre Parker

Take walking field trips to the river and forest and explore nature as the seasons change. In October, we'll explore the riverbank of our local Mill River through multi-arts like dance, theater, sculpture with natural materials, and unwind as we experience nature. As the weather cools, we will do some nature arts activities inside and outdoors. Depending on the weather we may build snow forts, explore nature areas close to school, or bring natural materials indoors for shadow drawing, paper making, and more. This club will get outside, get creative, and have fun! (*During the month of October, this club will run until 4:15pm*. In November and December, the club will typically end by 3:30pm.) Open to grades 3-4 (or possibly 2nd and 5th graders with special permission if space allows).

*$10 materials fee*

Fridays, Grades 2-5

TBD

Come learn the art of podcasting and be a part of making pilot episodes of the Leeds Community Podcast. Each student, or small group of students, will draft and record their own ideas. Interview friends or local politicians, share your favorite books and music, host themed conversations, or deliver a weekly news broadcast. We'll all learn together, because it's new to all of us! Open to grades 2-5.