Waterford Craft School

Make by hand.

Camps

Jerry Bond

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Wood-Fired Baking (Ages 10-13)

Jerry Bond is a retired Natural Resource Police Officer who has developed a passion for all things bread. He began baking cookies when his wife went back to college and has continued to study and develop his knowledge of baking over the past 20 years. For the past 10 years, he has focused on bread and pizza making, using both yeasted methods and traditional sourdough. He has taken classes in specialty breads and wood oven baking from several master bakers.

Jerry’s teaching experience includes nature programming, outdoor recreation, hunter safety, coaching sports, and since retirement, sharing his love of bread baking with others. He has taught bread and pizza classes to groups of various sizes, from one on one to groups as large as 20 in private homes, businesses and schools.  He joined the Waterford Craft School’s instructor team in 2020, leading a series of popular, virtual baking classes.

Laura Handley

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Survival Adventure (Ages 10-13) & Survival Skills (Ages 14-17)

Laura Handley is a teacher and writer with a deep interest in the natural world and how to survive and thrive within it. She picked up survival skills through years of hiking, camping, and foraging and honed them as a teaching assistant and co-instructor at Advanced Survival Training in Fauquier County, VA.

She currently works as a high-school math teacher and volunteers extensively in habitat restoration and wildlife monitoring. She also blogs about her foraging and wildcrafting projects on Instagram as @fairfaxforager.

Alika Middleton

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Art & Nature Exploration (Ages 6-10)

Alika Middleton is an artist and art educator who empowers her students to trust their own creative process. She has taught visual art for the last nine years in international and private schools ranging from early childhood to high school. She is the founder of Wild Wonder Creators, a program that brings creative arts and nature together in a playful and explorative way. As an educator, she values the importance of social-emotional learning by making sure all of her students feel safe, seen, and fully supported.

Susan Withnell

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Fiber Arts Craft Camp (Ages 8-10 & Ages 11-13)

Susan is a hand spinner and weaver, operating her fiber arts business, ‘Ewes-Ful Fiber Arts’ for over 20 years. She raises high percentage Wensleydale sheep (known for their excellent spinning fleeces) on her Maryland Farm. She uses these fibers in the hand spun and hand dyed yarns she sells at fiber art and craft shows. Susan has been a juried, demonstrating artisan at the Waterford Fair for over 10 years, earning the distinction of ‘2020 Waterford Artisan of the Year’ for her commitment to the Waterford Foundation and her excellence as a Fair demonstrating artisan.

Susan is also a retired elementary school teacher, who created and led a fiber arts club for her students. She enthusiastically continues to share her knowledge with the public, teaching hand spinning on drop spindles and spinning wheels to adults, and summer Fiber Arts Craft Camps here in Waterford for young people ages 8 – 13. She also has demonstrated hand spinning at the Great Yorkshire Agricultural Show in Harrogate, England. Don’t miss the opportunity to learn from this engaging artisan!