A Boulder Prep class spent the week at Longmont’s TinkerMill learning to make pottery by hand and on a wheel, molding clay into gnomes and other tiny creatures for fairy houses and forming bowls and cups on the wheel.

“It’s by far one of my favorite classes I’ve ever taken,” Boulder Prep sophomore Kaya Sutton said. “I’m an artist, so I already have my own style. I learned something new, and I got to be creative with it.”

Boulder Prep students recently finished their third week of the Gunbarrel charter school’s five-week “intensive” summer program. The students take one class a week, allowing for more experiential opportunities, off-campus community partnerships and work-based learning.

Along with the pottery class, students could take TinkerMill metalcraft, stained glass and fiber arts classes. Partnering with TinkerMill, teachers said, allows the students to use specialized equipment and benefit from expert community instructors.

“We get to be part of the community craft scene,” Boulder Prep teacher Josie Russell said. “Instead of a grade on a report card, they walk out of this class with something they made.”

Sima Pierce, TinkerMill’s pottery shop captain, is teaching the pottery and fiber classes.

For the pottery class, she will glaze and fire the students’ completed pieces after the class ends to allow them to fully dry. Because the class only goes for four days, she said, she focused on teaching students pottery basics.

“There’s a certain amount of learning to be imperfect,” she said. “You learn that you don’t need to make it the same as the person next to you. It’s self acceptance.”

Boulder Prep student Finn Hilton preferred shaping the clay by hand to using the pottery wheel, patiently forming a large contingent of turtles, snails, ducks and other miniature animals on Wednesday.

“I love my little creatures,” Finn said.

Classmate Kenzie Lehman, a senior, used the pottery wheel to make a heart bowl and was trying another with an asymmetrical design.

“Doing stuff like this makes me very happy,” she said. “I’m a very hands on, visual learner. It’s so fun.”

Outside of art classes, Boulder Prep students could stay up at Cal-Wood Education Center near Jamestown to participate in field research, go hiking on area trails, learn to sail through the ABLE to Sail program at Union Reservoir or work on cars at a nearby auto shop.Through a partnership with the Natural Highs program, students also could participate in acudetox training. Acudetox, or ear acupuncture, can reduce stress, substance cravings and feelings of anxiety and depression and promote relaxation.

Other options included college tours and job tours.

For the job tours class, students visited nine locations, including Boulder’s Google offices, Boulder Valley’s Transportation Center, the construction site at New Vista High School and Boulder aerospace engineering company Tendeg Engineering. Another tour took the students to the Uniquely Cats Veterinary Center, where they observed exams and a dental surgery.

“This is one of my favorite summer classes I’ve taught,” teacher Justin St. Onge said. “It’s a cool experience to show students what these different professions look like. This exposure helps shape their journey.”

Senior Analyce Garcia said she likes that the summer classes include options that get students outside of their classrooms and provide hands-on experiences.

“I have so many things I want to do, so many different paths I could take after high school,” she said. “They give us that experience of exploring new things.”

On the school’s campus, classes included mural painting, ecological knowledge, hairstyling, drama, music theory, systems of oppression and travel geography.

Students in the travel geography class researched a United States city and an international city, then gave presentations about those locations, including how to get there and what to see.

Senior Milo Sundheim researched Salem, Ore., saying it’s a place he would love to visit.

“It’s very scenic,” he said. “There’s a lot of greenery. And it’s an old town with a lot of history. I want to go there and explore.”

To offer similar learning opportunities during the school year, the school designed an experiential space in an office building next door purchased by the Boulder Valley School District. The new space is expected to be complete by September.

Headmaster Lili Adeli said the space will be open, with room for a small dance space, plant grow towers, a tank for a “trout in the classroom” program, and a lift students can use to work on cars.

Storage spaces also will allow the school to bring in stations for different classes, such as sewing and robotics.

“It gives students some exposure to see if these are pathways they want to explore,” she said. “We wanted to unclassroom this space. Students want more hands-on experiences.”