Class updates, February-May 2026

Bread and Desserts

Volunteering at Amherst Survival Center During this period, our group volunteered outdoors in all weather, preparing fresh food donations for distribution. When we had extra time, we prepared eggs and other items for distribution.

Hiking Group in this period included hikes at DAR, Ruggles Pond, Upper Lake and Prospect Hill Loop, UMass Greenhouses (on a bad weather day), Sunderland Town Park (on another bad weather day), Ashley Reservoir, Roaring Brook, and Mt. Tom.

Let's Build a World: In our final leg of the class, we worked hard to build a hexagon map of our shared setting using the computer program Worldographer. We fleshed out the landmasses of our archipelago with terrain features, settlements, and other points of interest, then talked a little bit about the culture of each island. Finally, with the map completed, we undertook the arduous task of naming all our islands and their major cities. I am hard at work compiling our finished map and all of the other information we came up with over the course of the class into one reference document, which should go out by the end of the North Star year. From there, people are welcome to use our world for their own creative pursuits!

Volunteering at the Sunderland Library: Not even the erratic spring weather could keep us from volunteering at the Sunderland Library! In our final few weeks we continued our normal volunteering tasks such as pulling holds and reshelving titles, and we assisted the library staff with a variety of other projects. Many of our volunteers spent several weeks preparing craft kits for the library's Minecraft Party, which happened over April Vacation. We ended the year with a heartfelt freestyle rap (yes, really!) and an even more heartfelt thank you from Jared the Young Adult librarian, who also invited any interested teens to continue volunteering over the summer.

Markers and Water Although this class involved less water (and more markers) than originally planned, we succeeded in exploring almost every type and tip of marker we could find: fine tip, chisel tip, round tip, washable, permanent, grayscale, acrylic, fabric, and chalk. Our second-to-last project involved creating a "conversation" between all the different types of markers (an open-ended interpretation). Some teens created literal conversations like a comic strip; others created a "world" of their own, or a colorful gradient unified by a single form. We finished off the year designing t-shirts (and patches) with fabric markers.

Inside Out Sculpture For the last few months of this class, we ventured into the world of art installations. We looked at several examples of famous (and sometimes absurd) installations around the world, indoors and outdoors. Then we made our own! Teens worked collaboratively in groups, and created works inside the Maker Room that were designed to evoke various thoughts and feelings in the viewer. The outcomes ranged from creepy and parasitic to humorous and playful.

Open Maker Room: Teens engaged in many creative projects using a variety of materials including wood, clay, yarn, fabric, and various art supplies. Additionally, we received a number of donated STEM kits containing fun projects to build that were enjoyed by quite a few members.

Chemistry: The labs we did during the last part of the year involved more complex processes and increasingly larger molecules. Topics included acid-base reactions, mixing solutions and moles, oxidation-reduction reactions, anodes and cathodes, states of matter, density, non-Newtonian fluids, and polymers. Some of the labs we did were experimenting with pH indicators, electroplating coins, making lemon batteries, making Oobleck and slime, and extracting DNA.

Algebra: During the last part of the year, we focused on representing linear functions in three ways: equations in the form y=mx+b (slope-intercept form), on graphs, and in tables of values. Class members were given choices of Kuta Algebra worksheets and a curated list of Desmos/Amplify online activities and worked at their own pace for the last month or so of class.

Plants & Animals class enjoyed a number of guests in the last part of the year. We had a visit from the UMass Fernald Club (Bug Club). They brought live insects and spiders for us to hold if we wished as well as a number of specimen cases. Class member Moth brought their corn snake Lemon to visit the class and answered our questions about snakes and snake care. We had a talk on plant and soil science from North Star parent Julie Fine. And, Jake Levenson, a NOAA marine biologist, zoomed with the class to talk about his work tagging and studying whales and sea turtles. We also watched the movie, Fly Away Home, based on the true story of man using ultralight aircraft to guide migrating birds. In addition, we continued to discuss issues such as animal rights and to care for our plant cuttings, many of which successfully rooted.

Social Issues  This is a challenging time to follow the news.  Every day seems to have a new, unexpected, discouraging event.  What is real and lasting?  How are people resisting?  What actually is happening with immigration, the National Guard, health care, Gaza, Venezuela, and the government shutdown?  Diversions include sports scandals, jewelry heists, and other more entertaining items.

Schooling:  Each class begins with the yin-yang of “schooling is essential” and “schooling is a waste of time”.  Send along your pop culture references such as Calvin and Hobbes, Pink Floyd, Malala, and more to be used as openers. What are the primary goals of schooling, what are some of the alternatives along the lines of North Star, and who are our allies? We watched the dramatic reentactment of the Summerhill Recertification conflict.  More to come!

Making a Scene So far in movie making class we have learned about the basic elements of film making, including camera angles, lighting, and composition. We've also broken into smaller groups to create original scripts based on an object prompt. These ideas have been further developed over the last few weeks by creating outlines and storyboards. This week we worked as a whole class to write and shoot our own short horror film!

Immersive Explorations Our classes started with a brief introduction to the art movements that influenced immersive multimedia art, including surrealism, dadaism and bauhaus. We created some collaborative drawings through the process of playing a game called The Exquisite Corpse. Most recently our group has been creating mixed-media art inspired by an Emily Dickinson poem, Hope is the thing with feathers.

Open Studio So far some folks have been using open studio to prepare performance pieces for our upcoming Winter Celebration performance. These have primarily been musical numbers including drumming, voice, guitar and keyboard. This is an open format class that anyone is welcome to drop-into on Fridays from 10-11am.

Scene on Radio We’ve been having deep and rich conversations about season 3 of the Scene On Radio podcast called MEN. This season was far-ranging and led us into some difficult observations about why folks were tentatively optimistic that culturally we were making strides towards a more gender-equitable society in 2018 (when the season was recorded), and why those specific strides have been seriously attacked and endangered recently. We ended on a note of fortitude and determination, touching on some historical geopolitical issues and present-day collective movements towards bolstering and expanding inclusivity. The group has been consistent, thoughtful, reflective, and engaged as we grapple with these big issues together.

Lunch Class Our spring semester wrapped up with a small-but-mighty team of dedicated folks! We worked our way through a variety of meals this spring, including: Pasta with Vegan Sausage, Potato Fritters, Ramen Noodle Bowls, Curried Tofu & Rice, Pasta with Spinach & Vegan Sausage, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Tomato Soup, Sheet Pizzas, Thai-inspired Coconut Rice, and Grilled Burritos.

THEATRE: Journey Through Oz Rehearsal rehearsal rehearsal! Everyone has been working very hard on lines, blocking, costumes, set, and supporting each other. We’ve continued honing our breath and vocal toolkits. It’s been a wild ride and we’re almost through! I am sure the performances will be wonderful, tickets are selling, and it’s been an honor to support this epic adventure of a production.