Teen Craft & Trade Intensives

Session 1: Monday, February 15 – Friday, February 19
Session 3: Monday, April 19 – Friday, April 23

Instructor: Kolin Schmidt CF ’21
Teaching Assistant: TBD
Class Description: In this week-long intensive workshop, students will build foundational skills essential to traditional woodworking and furniture making. Based on a simple bookcase designed by the instructor, students will gain hands-on experience with both machine and hand tools, ensuring they develop safe and comfortable practices while using time-tested techniques. Participants will have the opportunity to add their own design details to their case. By the end of the course, each student will complete their very own bookcase. 

Instructor Bio: Kolin (he/him) is a furniture maker, teacher, and graduate of the Cabinet & Furniture Making program. He is an instructor in the Three-Month Furniture Making Intensive as well as several weekend Community Education classes. Before attending NBSS, Kolin received an architecture degree and practiced as a draftsperson and designer for both residential and commercial properties in rural Iowa. Kolin shares a furniture studio with two other North Bennet graduates in New Hampshire.

Teaching Assistant Bio: Coming soon!

Session 2: Monday, February 15 – Friday, February 19

Instructor: Eric Goodson
Teaching Assistant: TBD
Class Description: This one-week intensive introduces students to two foundational woodworking skills: carving and turning. Through the creation of carved spoons and turned bowls, students will learn to use an axe, handsaw, sloyd knife, and hook knife safely and effectively; develop fundamental woodturning techniques on the lathe; practice sharpening a variety of tools; and explore decorative methods such as chip carving, kolrosing, and using milk paint.

Beyond technical instruction, the course emphasizes the habits of mind that support lifelong craft practice, including a growth mindset, creativity, persistence, and collaboration. By the end of the intensive, students will have completed several spoons and bowls and gained the knowledge and confidence to continue developing their skills independently.

Instructor Bio: Eric Goodson (he/him) is a woodcarver, woodturner, and craft educator based in Ashland, New Hampshire. A former high school teacher and academic dean, Eric brings nearly 30 years of classroom experience to his craft instruction, with a particular focus on thoughtful and effective pedagogy. His teaching draws on the Scandinavian Slöjd tradition—an educational approach that uses hands-on making to cultivate habits of mind like perseverance, self-reliance, and a growth mindset.

Eric’s craft practice centres on woodenware. He turns wooden bowls, cups, and plates, and hand-carves spoons, spatulas, spreaders, and other useful objects. Inspired by historical British and Scandinavian woodenware, he creates functional sculptures intended for daily use—objects that bring beauty and meaning to ordinary routines.

Eric teaches at craft schools and festivals throughout the United States, including North Bennet Street School in Boston, MA; Snowfarm in Williamsburg, MA; Sanborn Mills Farm in Loudon, NH; and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, ME. Eric also is a fully juried member of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen.

Teaching Assistant Bio: Coming soon!

Session 4: Monday, April 19 – Friday, April 23

Instructor: Colin Urbina BB ’11
Teaching Assistant: TBD
Class Description: This week-long intensive focuses on the basics of bookbinding structure and design. Students will make some non-adhesive structures and case bindings while utilizing different sewing variations, covering, and cutting techniques using different materials, tools, and equipment to create a uniquely designed series of books. Students will create paste paper and marbled paper on the first day of class, plus a guest lecture on printmaking during the week.

Instructor Bio: Colin (he/him) is a graduate of the NBSS Bookbinding program and runs Low Mountain Bindery in Boston’s Fort Point neighborhood. He has studied books since 2002 and has been a professional bookbinder since 2011. Colin is a proud graduate of Hampshire College, Simmons College’s GSLIS program, and North Bennet Street School. In addition to his formal education, he has attended workshops with many talented and innovative binders. In his shop, he makes and repairs books, crafts boxes to hold special books, and enjoys doodling in his spare time.

Teaching Assistant Bio: Coming soon!

• Cancellation requests received at least 60 days or more before the class start date will receive a full refund, less a 10% cancellation fee. 
• Cancellation requests received at least 30 days before the class start date will receive a 50% refund, less a 10% cancellation fee. 
• Refunds are not given for cancellations received less than 30 days before the class start date. 
• North Bennet Street School reserves the right to cancel a class 10 days before the class start date if 50% enrollment is not met. If NBSS cancels the class, a full refund will be processed.
• Cancellations for Scholarship Recipients: If a student can not attend the intensive they received a scholarship for, they need to make a formal request for cancellation to ce@nbss.edu two weeks before the intensive start date. This will ensure that we are able to award the scholarship spot to an applicant on the waitlist.
• Once the program is in session, NBSS does not offer refunds for students who are unable to attend one or multiple days due to issues including illness, travel, and family or work commitments. With an application process for this program, we want to ensure accepted students are committed to full participation. Please review the program dates carefully before registering to be sure the student can attend the entire week. See additional info about missing class due to illness below under “Health & Safety.”

Location
North Bennet Street School
150 North Street 
Boston, MA 02109

Transportation

• Public Transit: We are conveniently located near multiple service routes, and the neighborhood is very walkable. The closest MBTA stop is Haymarket on the Orange and Green Lines, and the Aquarium stop on the Blue Line is slightly further away. There are also several options for bus service. We recommend checking the MBTA’s website in advance of travel to make sure all services are running properly. Also, check to see if your teen qualifies for a student discount. 
• Biking: If you plan to bike to the school, we have a bicycle rack located across from our building where you can lock your bike. Our facility is also near several Bluebike bike share stations. 
• Driving & Parking: The School does not have a dedicated parking lot, and on-street parking in the North End can be difficult to find. If you plan to drive and park, you will likely need to park in one of the nearby garages and walk to the School.
  • We validate Haymarket Center parking garage (also known as the Parcel 7 Garage at 98 Haymarket Square) as follows:
    • $1 for up to 2 hours; $3 for up to 3 hours; Longer than 3 hours is $10/hour with no validation discount, capping at $33 for 5-24 hours. 
    • Note: We can validate your ticket at the front desk anytime after you arrive at the garage, but the validation timing begins when you enter the garage. So your total stay in the garage must be 3 hours or under to apply discounted pricing.
  • Another option is Lewis Wharf Parking at 641 Lewis Wharf. Rates are: $13 for 1 hour, $18 for 1½ hours, $26 for 10 hours, $30 for 24 hours. If you park before 9 am and are out by 6 pm M-F, the early bird rate is $22 for 10 hours.

• Students will sign in with our front desk staff member at the beginning of each day. 
• Students who have been permitted to sign themselves out at the end of the day by a parent or guardian will be dismissed from class by their instructor and will sign out with a staff member before leaving for the day. 
• Students who will be picked up by a parent or guardian will be dismissed from class by their instructor and will wait indoors in the school’s lobby until their parent or guardian has arrived and signed them out with a staff member. Students will only be released to an individual on their pickup list. A photo ID must be presented at the time of pick up.
• Absence, late arrival, early dismissal: With an application process for this program, we want to ensure students who have been accepted to an intensive program are committed to full participation and that they are prioritizing attendance and arriving on time. If your student will be absent, late, or require an early dismissal, please contact ce@nbss.edu so that we can notify their instructor.
• Students will enter and exit through our front doors, located at 150 North Street.
• A program staff member will be in the school lobby each morning and afternoon to direct you to your classroom and assist with the sign-in/sign-out process.

Daily Schedule

• Drop Off: 8:45 – 9:00 am
• Morning Class Hours: 9:00 am – 12:15 pm
• Lunch: 12:15 – 1:00 pm
• Afternoon Class Hours: 1:00 – 4:00 pm
• Pick Up: 4:00 – 4:15 pm

• Lunch (a refrigerator and microwave will be available to students).
  • In consideration for those with peanut allergies, please do not bring food that contains peanuts and/or peanut products.
• A refillable water bottle.
• Snacks will be provided for all students.
• All tools and supplies will be provided for each session.

• Wear clothes that can get dirty!
• Closed-toe (fully-enclosed), comfortable, and protective footwear (sneakers or boots)
• No loose clothing
• Long pants suggested
• No loose jewelry
• Long hair must be tied back

During the application process, preference will be given to students who have not previously attended a teen intensive at NBSS. However if there are spots available, we welcome students to return for another session in a different discipline, or the same discipline. Please be aware that curriculum and projects are typically the same each year, so if a student is able to attend the same program again, they will work on the same project(s).

Yes! While most of our students come from the greater Boston area, we are happy to welcome students from Massachusetts, New England, and beyond. Please be aware that we do not provide housing or transportation support for students or families. So, students either get experience driving in or taking public transit/the commuter rail—or we’ve had students and families stay with Boston friends/relatives, or at an Airbnb or similar short-term rental. Our list of local accommodation recommendations could be helpful.

Safety is prioritized at North Bennet Street School, and it is built into every class curriculum. Students should follow their instructors’ and teaching assistants’ guidance on safe usage of equipment and tools. Students will be directed to wear additional safety gear, such as hearing protection, eye protection, etc., as needed by their instructors. 

To ensure additional attention is given to safety, there will be no student cell phone use during class hours.

• Please visit the school’s website for Health & Safety guidance. 
• Please contact the Assistant Director of Community Education, Barbara Rutkowski, at brutkowski@nbss.edu if you need to discuss a student’s medication or accommodations.
• In the event that a student can’t attend class due to illness, please let us know as soon as possible by emailing ce@nbss.edu so that we can notify their instructor. If you are sick, please take care of yourself and stay home. The instructor will do their best to catch students up when they are able to return, but instructors may not be able to repeat all missed lessons.