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The Folk School Provides Expertise for a Prince William Sound College Packraft Class
This Spring Folk School packraft instructor, Bruce Campbell, and Prince William Sound College (PWSC) outdoor skills instructor, Benjamin Rush, accompanied 5 PWSC students on their first packrafting venture. Benjamin and students spent the Spring semester building DIY Packrafts from kits, with Folk School support via Zoom and the occasional video phone call. Some students finished their packrafts and those who had not yet finished borrowed some of Bruce’s packrafts to float the Clearwater River.
Their previous excursions included sea kayak trips, ski and overnight camping on Worthington Glacier, and other snow camping, so the class was not the least phased by the snow blocking the access to the Clearwater river. After a night of camping on the ice and snow at the unplowed entrance to the Clearwater State Recreation Area, the group packed gear into their packrafts, shuttled cars, and slid the rafts across the snow, post-holing their way to the boat launch.
The day offered clear blue skies and wonderful bright sunlight streaming through the spruce. Following a safety discussion, they slid the packrafts into the clear water and were off. Schools of whitefish passed underneath, skeins of swans flew overhead, and they had the river all to themselves. Students survived a floating discussion about the Clearwater fault, groundwater and melting permafrost, accompanied by thick river ice, forming the various features of the river, white spruce vs black spruce, and much more.
The group camped on a mix of ice, thawed ground, and gravel bar. PWSC students, used to backpacking and sea kayak limits on gear, were really good at packing light. So they got an eye-full as Bruce extracted his folding camp table, folding stools, kitchen, and an endless stream of gear from the same sized packraft. Packrafts can carry an impressive amount of gear, if you’re not limited by having to carry it in a backpack. The equipment one can pack inside the raft is limited by the 50 mm long air-tight zipper = lots! And the craft handles much better when loaded.
Bruce Campbell Clearwater River 4/23/2022, with overnight camping equipment inside raft, including: 3-man REI tent, sleeping bag, extra quilt, ground blanket, blue tarp, spare change and extra warm clothes, 25″ thermarest pad, MSR stove, pots, 10″ skillet, muck boots, 1 gallon of water, folding aluminum camp table, and folding stool.
Dinner was a Folk School event, Japanese Tempura in which everyone contributed to include: halibut, salmon, mushrooms, peppers, peas, broccoli, sweet potato, and more, cooked on MSR Stoves in deep Fry-Bake pans.
The next morning they passed the Clearwater Lake outfall into the Tanana, and made a partial attempt to paddle up the outfall current. Packrafts are not fast hull craft! It was clear that we would have had to pack our craft up and over the snow to access the lake outfall, and it would still have been a difficult paddle upstream against the current using packrafts.
Clear skies gave the group glimpses of the Alaska Range as they paddled. Moffit, Hayes, Deborah and Hess and even Denali peeked out for a moment. The Tanana was a clear green river. One could see bottom in several feet of water. While slab ice lay across the gravel bars, it did not prevent the travelers from pulling out and stopping for the occasional break. The river was fully open, just like the satellite imagery, dated 4/17/2022, had indicated. A lovely breakup trip on the Clearwater River!
The Folk School Spring Raffle 2022!
Prizes:
- Rustic Chair by Philip Marshall
- Bentwood Box by John Manthei
- Week in the Woods Tuition (either adult or adult w/ child, 2022 or 2023)
- $200 of Folk Bucks
- REI Gear
- TFS Swag Bag/Gift Basket
$10/ticket or 5 for $40
Drawing on June 1, 2022, 12:00 pm @ The Folk School Cabin (need not be present to win)
State of Alaska Gaming Permit #177003
How to buy tickets:
- At any upcoming TFS class or event until June 1st (please have cash ready)
- At Wood Fest – May 13 – 15 (please have cash ready)
- Call us at 907-457-1219 and leave your name and telephone number and a good time to call you back and you can pay with a credit card over the phone.
- Fill in the contact form below and we will call you back and you can pay with a credit card over the phone.
COVID-19 Update 4/11/2022
We appreciate your assistance in creating a safe environment for everyone who attends our classes and events.
For earlier updates, please see our Blog page. And please: remember your mask!
COVID-19 Update 2/23/2022
The Folk School requires that students ages 5 and older show proof that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to participate in indoor, in-person classes.
Masks are also required for all individuals during all indoor and outdoor classes, as well as indoor and outdoor events. Masks must fit securely, and cover both nose and mouth.
We appreciate your assistance in creating a safe environment for everyone who attends our classes and events.
For earlier updates, please see our Blog page. And please: remember your mask!
Edith Rohde Makes a Generous Donation of Land and Cabins to TFS!
The Folk School is pleased to announce the receipt of two cabins and surrounding land off of Gold Hill Road. These cabins once belonged to local conductor Gordon Wright and are the generous donation of Edith Rohde, and we couldn’t be more excited to share the news with you.
2022 Program Coordinator Job Posting
Program Coordinator Job Description
The Folk School in Fairbanks is looking for a Program Coordinator to work closely with the Program Director to provide support for classes and events at The Folk School.
Responsibilities:
- assist with in-person and remote classes and events as needed to ensure they run smoothly
- offer short course programs directed toward both kids and adults, in person and possibly online
- marketing of year-round classes and programs
- assist The Folk School in adapting to the changing environment, by providing digital content for social media, such as YouTube, Facebook, and Zoom classes, including tutorials and promotional videos
- provide information about The Folk School to visitors and locals at both our Pioneer Park cabin and during local events, such as farmers and art markets
- Assists in managing specific programs such as Community Workshop and the Community Printmaking Studio
This is a multi-faceted position, and we will take into account the skills and experience of the successful candidate when determining day to day activities.
Requirements:
- experience in photography and/or videography; editing
- experience with social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Zoom, and YouTube
- must complete a background check
- candidates should be able lift 35 pounds, navigate stairs with ease, and have the ability/desire to work outside during both Pioneer Park events and seasonal outdoor classes
- flexible schedule that may include evenings and weekends
- desire to promote hands-on learning to the community and visitors
- a background in arts and/or crafts is a bonus
Compensation/Hours:
15-20 hours per week, with schedule and hours varying.
$18 per hour, plus opportunity to participate in Folk School classes and events.
Please check out our full range of courses and programs at https://folk.school.
Send a letter of interest and resume highlighting relevant experience to Kerri Hamos at kerri@folk.school.
Application review will begin March 7th, 2022.
Newsletter from Liane Budden – Traveling Artist to Cruikshank School in Beaver
COVID-19 Update, 8/12/2021
Update 9/25/2021: We always work with instructors to create an environment where they feel comfortable and safe teaching. So sometimes our requirements for individual classes are different than general requirements that apply to all classes. In particular, some instructors are requesting that we only allow students who are fully vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus. These special requirements will be spelled out in the class description, so please be sure to read those carefully.
Please come to class prepared to wear a mask.
Due to the recent rise in COVID-19 cases, The Folk School will now require masks for all individuals during both indoor and outdoor* classes. Masks must fit securely, and cover both nose and mouth.
*When adequate social distancing is possible in outdoor settings, folks who are fully vaccinated have the option of removing their mask (for outdoor classes only).
We appreciate your assistance in creating a safe environment for everyone who attends our classes.
For earlier updates, please see our Blog page. And please: remember your mask!
2021 Summer Program Assistant Job Posting
The Folk School in Fairbanks is looking for a summer program assistant for Summer 2021. The person in this position will provide support for summer programs at The Folk School, and could include:
- management of our small retail shop
- providing information about The Folk School to visitors and locals throughout the summer, at both our Pioneer Park cabin and during local events, such as farmers and art markets
- offering short course programs directed toward both kids and adults, in person and possibly online
- marketing of both summer and year-round classes and programs
- assist The Folk School in adapting to the changing environment, by providing digital content for social media, such as YouTube, Facebook, and Zoom classes, including tutorials and promotional videos
This is a multi-faceted position, and we will take into account the skills and experience of the successful candidate when determining day to day activities. Given the current social circumstances, tasks for this position may change as the summer progresses.
Requirements:
- ideally, the candidate would have a background in arts and/or crafts, and have a desire to promote hands-on learning to the community and visitors.
- experience in photography and/or videography; editing
- demonstrate experience with social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Zoom, and YouTube
- must complete a background check
- candidates should be able lift 35 pounds, and have the ability/desire to work outside during both Pioneer Park events and outdoor classes.
- flexible schedule that may include some evenings and weekends
Compensation/Hours:
20-30 hours per week, with schedule and hours varying. The position will be from mid-to-late May, to early September after Labor Day.
$15 per hour, plus opportunity to participate in Folk School classes and events.
Please check out our full range of courses and programs at https://folk.school.
Send a letter of interest and resume highlighting relevant experience by May 1, 2021, to Allison Wylde at allison@folk.school.
COVID-19 Update, 1/21/2021
The Folk School is continuing to work hard to offer our classes in safe ways, which during the winter mostly means online, with some variations depending on the class. For example, for one class we briefly reviewed the needed tools with students when they came in to pick up their materials kit.
We deeply appreciate the innovation of our instructors and the willingness of students to be part of an experiment. As a result, we’ve been having some great classes, based on the student evaluations they get.
As spring approaches, we plan to do outdoors, in-person, small-sized classes whenever we can, using some outdoor heaters as needed. We’re continuing to develop other ways to engage people who want to continue to learn interesting things, including:
- Innovative online courses, some with kits and other prepared materials so you can work along with the instructor. (If you have any ideas about how to make online classes more engaging, we’d love to hear from you!)
- Kits that you can buy and create on your own, sometimes with accompanying instructional videos.
- In-person classes, if we can do them in well-ventilated spaces that allow social distancing and other pandemic best practices. This may include outdoors classes that explore the world of Interior Alaska, such as Snow Sculpture for Amateurs. And sometimes we can make a hybrid class–partly online or video, partly in-person–work.
- More products in our online store, many created by our very creative and talented instructors, as well as other artists of various kinds in Fairbanks.
We are deeply grateful for the financial support of our wonderful community during these difficult times. It’s because of you that we can keep operating. Thank you! We are also pursuing grants for both operations and programs that will help us keep pursuing our mission: to perpetuate the joy of hands-on learning.
For earlier updates, please see our Blog page. And please: remember your mask!