Programs
The Schoharie River Center has developed and run a number of successful programs throughout the years. From the award winning Environmental Study Team program for middle school and high school aged students that meets throughout the school year, to Schoharie River Day, a single day community event celebrating the cultural diversity and natural resources of the Schoharie River Valley, there is something for everyone.
Environmental Study Team
EST is an award winning after-school youth development program for students aged 13 - 18 and has been running since 2002. Students meet every other Sunday at the River Center in Burtonsville, NY from 12-4 pm. Students learn about the science of water ecology and participate in various outdoor activities including hiking, swimming, cross-country skiing and much more. Membership in this program is free, and requires parental consent.
Middleburgh Advantage After School Program
The Middleburgh Advantage After School Program provides students and their families with high quality after school programs and services. Designed to ensure all children are safe and participating in a variety of age appropriate activities that challenge them intellectually, the program will promote mastery skills focused on literacy, science, problem solving, critical and analytical thinking, creative expression, communication, and healthy physical and socio-emotional development.
Blacksmithing
SRC Blacksmith Shop Members will have the opportunity to learn blacksmithing from other blacksmiths as well as access to the shop to work on their own projects as their skills progress.
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SRC offers beginning workshops to gain experience with the craft.
Summer Youth Programs
Cultural Arts
Archeology Field School
Looking for something different for your middle schooler or high schooler to do this summer? For the summer of 2020, we are offering 3 weeklong programs designed to get you outdoors and learning about your environment while having fun. Each weeklong program runs Monday through Friday from 9am to 4pm for students aged 12 to 17 and are based at the Schoharie River Center in Burtonsville, NY.
Throughout the year we hold various one and two day workshops showcasing the talents of various local and regional artists and musicians. Some of these programs are supported with grants from NYSCA - New York State Council on the Arts. Workshops we’ve held in the past include Rag Wool Rug Braiding, Dry Laid Stone Wall Building, Lacrosse Stick Making, Stone Carving, Blacksmithing and so much more. Occasionally we have an artist in residence, staying at the River Center for a few days to a week at a time while they practice their craft and conduct public workshops.
Archeology Field School is a one week long day program for youth ages 11 - 18, held in the summer time, and is led by experienced archeologists. Students literally get their hands dirty, learning and using techniques used by professional archeologists. This year, we are offering two weeklong sessions at the site of a 1712 Colonial fortified homestead in Middleburgh, NY.
Media Arts
The Schoharie River Center has integrated media arts into most of our programming. We offer filmmaking workshops, educating all ages on every aspect of production, from writing and shooting through to editing and presenting. Documentation and storytelling through media is also included in our other programming. Capturing all the wonderful activities presented by the Schoharie Resource Center, the Environmental Study Team, and the Middleburgh Advantage Afterschool Program.
Timber Frame Construction
Another traditional craft we offer workshops on is Timber Frame Building. A process of building that involves joining together mortises and tenons, and securing them with wooden pegs.
We offer workshops, lectures, workshop hours, and more to create an immersive learning experience in the craft.
Maple Syrup Production
Throughout our 20 acre nature preserve we have Sugar Maple Trees, and they provide us with sap, tapped in late Winter/early Spring, which we then boil down in the large wood fired evaporator located in our timber framed Sugar House. This is one of those activities that truly combines just about all programming here at the SRC.
Middleburgh Cemetery Rededication Project
Beginning in 2022, a committee of people made up EST members, motivated community members, town officials, and archaeological staff from the SRC launched a project to research and rededicate the predominantly African-American Burial Plot in the northern corner of the Middleburgh Town cemetery