Local church offers junior high skill workshops

WELSH - First Presbyterian Church here will hold three days of craft, cooking and skills-based workshops for junior high students July 9-11.

The free workshops will be held at the church located at 305 West Hudspeth from 4-6:30 p.m. and are open to any Jeff Davis Parish student entering sixth, seventh, eighth or ninth grades.

Event coordinator Florence Beard said the tenth annual event was designed to reward junior high-aged students for whom there are very few programs available to during the summer.

“Every year during the summer there are vacation bible schools held for little ones all over the parish, and the older middle school kids always help the little kids at those,” Beard said. “We noticed that they didn’t get a program for themselves. They hold things like baseball in the summer, but for kids that age who aren’t interested in sports there may not be a lot of things for them to do. So we came up with some workshops that they might be interested in.”

The workshops, of which there are five to choose from, have to be registered for in advance and are held for the entire length of the program leaving kids unable to switch from one program to another, Beard said.

Two of the available workshops focus on arts and crafts, Beard said.

“We have our Printmaking with Pat Love workshop and there students will be able to use paints and inks to make designs on all kinds of things,” she said. “The kids really love that one. We have another class called Creations by Kate and in that one kids will be able to take dried, pressed flowers and with a little bit of paint be able to make beautiful pieces of art on wood. They come out really well.”

Kids with an interest in woodworking and nature are able to sign up for the All for the Birds workshop, Beard said.

“Kids there will be able to take gourds and make a bird house out of them,” she said. “They’ll also learn how to make a little wooden bird and attach it to a tree branch to hang outside. I still have the one my grandson made a couple of years ago in that class on my porch and it’s really beautiful.”

Kids can also learn the skills it takes to excel in the kitchen as well as learn what powers the world around us.

“Kids who love food can learn about skills like cake decorating or how to make a fruit basket out of a watermelon in the In the Kitchen with Karen Wild class, and they love doing that one,” Beard said. “We also host Something Electric with Kyle Todd, an electrical engineer who teaches the kids all about the different kinds of power lines and amperages and then has little projects for them to do.”

To register for one of the workshops, call (337) 526-8580 or email florencebeard62@gmail.com.