Kristi Downing - Instructors

I’m Kristi Downing and I’ve lived in Fairbanks for . . . a long time. I love camping, hiking, reading, skiing, teaching, being with family and friends, and being surrounded by the forest. In artistic pursuits, I enjoy knitting and felting, watercolors, carving, sewing and a myriad of other random creative interests.

I’ve worked with kids as a 2nd grade teacher, as a parent, and as a tutor and mentor for high schools students here in Fairbanks. In my felting world, I have taught needle felting as an after-school enrichment activity for elementary students, as well as during an Artist-in-Residence for BEST homeschool students in 2019. I have also done a lot of needle felting with my own children, as well as with friends.

I have a love of connecting children with nature as a place to learn and grow, as well as a perfect place-based classroom. I am completing my Masters of Elementary Education with a focus on embracing the Forest School ethos in our work with raising and teaching/mentoring our children. In addition, I am a certified elementary teacher in Alaska, currently homeschooling my own children.