LAKE PLACID — The Lake Placid Central School District is inviting adults in Lake Placid and surrounding communities to learn how to cook, dance and paint during the month of March.

The school is hosting adult community classes, which will be held at Lake Placid’s elementary and middle high schools. The classes are being offered through the district’s Community Schools program.

It’s now been about six months since the Community Schools program — which helps the school district fill gaps in services, funding and programming at school and in the community — kicked off in the school district.

Keith Clark, a former LPCSD teacher who’s now the Community Schools program coordinator, told the LPCSD Board of Education earlier this month that he hasn’t just spent the school year writing grants; he’s gotten to work with kids one-on-one and start several new programs that have been well-attended by district students.

The adult education classes are the most recent development in Community Schools programming. To sign up for the adult community classes, email Clark at kclark@lakeplacidcsd.net.

–

Painting

–

Lake Placid Elementary School Principal Sonja Franklin will lead three watercolor painting classes on March 1, March 15 and March 22 — all Wednesdays — from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the LPES art room. All paint supplies will be provided, and artists will be able to take home a completed and ready-to-frame painting after each session.

Franklin will help artists explore different watercolor techniques through paintings that depict life in the Adirondacks.

–

Cooking

–

Chef Stevie Ray Riehs, an executive chef for restaurants, resorts, movie catering and for Fortune 500 companies, will offer cooking classes on March 2 and March 9 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the middle-high school.

Participants will learn how to craft Thai salad rolls with lemongrass pork and shrimp, fry tomatoes and build a crab-avocado salad with cilantro-buttermilk dressing.

Both classes will be the same, so participants can only sign up for one class. Space is limited to eight participants per class.

–

Dancing

–

Vicki Kirchner, a speech-language pathologist for LPCSD, will teach “modern line dancing” classes on March 2, March 9 and March 16 — all Thursdays — from 5 to 6 p.m. in the LPES music room. Kirchner has been teaching modern line dance classes through the Adirondack Health Center.

A line dance is a group dance, with dancers performing repeated and patterned movements in unison. Music will include R&B, pop and country music genres.

People can sign up for one, two or three classes.

–

Six months of community schools

–

So far, LPCSD’s Comunity Schools program has powered the Mac Pac program — a four-day program during the 2023 Winter World University Games that provided activities for students while school was out — and offered several free “open gym” sessions in the elementary school gym for grades K-5 and two free “morning skate” opportunities at the Olympic Center for grades 6-12 over the winter months. A total of 164 students participated in the Mac Pac program, according to Clark.

Outside of larger-scale programming, the Community Schools program has also helped LPCSD to reach out to individual students and district families who need some extra assistance, from providing heating help to a few district families during an extreme cold snap earlier this month to helping students find employment and local volunteer opportunities.

Some of the Community Schools programs — including the morning skate sessions and open gym sessions — are slated to return in March alongside the launch of the adult community classes and a college trip to the Capital District with LPCSD sophomores, according to Clark. He said he’s also working on “summer enrichment” programming through Community Schools, which could provide around 20 week-long classes for students throughout the summer.

LPCSD was awarded a $100,000 North Elba Local Enhancement and Advancement Fund grant last year to start the Community Schools program.